


Had we but world enough, and time

by anditwasstinky (thewicked)



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:06:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 89,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewicked/pseuds/anditwasstinky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all starts when Makoto drowns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> No one seemed to be writing about Haru in his natural form so I decided to do it myself~

It turns out, as Makoto sinks into the steely blue depths of the ocean, that something really _does_ live in the water.  It reaches out for him, circles him with its arms, and as it tugs at his limp body, the only thing running through his mind is that despite the years of fearing this _thing_ , of imagining this malignant threat lurking deep within the waves, he isn’t afraid.  Whatever it is that has a hold on him, it doesn’t feel dangerous.  In fact, if Makoto’s being honest, he feels okay in this strange embrace.  Safe, even.

He always knew, somehow, that he would drown.  Whether or not he would die from it, he was never sure, but there had always been that nagging feeling whenever he took his brother and sister swimming, when the ocean would try to bite down on him as he tentatively made his way into the surf.  It always felt like he was tempting fate, putting himself directly into the maw of the beast, but if he were to give in to his fear, to remain static beneath it, he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.  So, little by little, he forced himself to venture out, to trust the thing he couldn’t turn his back on, and he hoped that, by putting his life in its hands, he might earn its respect, and by extension, its mercy.  But he only hoped.

Makoto closes his eyes against the salt sting of the water, and lets himself be taken.

**

He wakes up with water spewing out of his mouth as he hacks his way back to the world of the living; there’s sand crunching beneath his still-damp skin when he rolls onto his side, his throat burns, and he takes a moment to simply lie there, the hot sun making his skin prickle as it dries into a crust of salt and sweat.  His muscles are weak, all of the fight sapped from his struggle with the tide, and they stay motionless, limp like wet noodles.  His breathing is ragged, the air rasping through his raw trachea, and his stomach aches, burning on the cusp of nausea.

It takes him a while to register the quiet breathing beside him, the crush of the waves overpowering everything but his ragged breath.  He opens his eyes.

Blue, a lot of blue, swimming in front of his eyes as they struggle to focus.  He squints, and there’s a face, it’s concerned, and it’s… very close to his.

He yells, falling back and knocking his head against the packed sand.  There’s a startled gasp, and then hesitant hands grasping his shoulders as another wave of coughing racks his body.  When he opens his eyes for the second time, his vision is clearer, and he makes out the face of a young man, his eyebrows drawn together with worry.

“Wh-who are you?” he manages to gasp out, cringing when he hears how rough his voice sounds.

“Your name is Makoto.”

“Huh?”

“The children you were with.  That’s what they called you.”

“You saw the twins?”

He hesitates, and that’s when Makoto sees the flash of silver that draws his attention to the dolphin-like tail connected to his lower abdomen.

Makoto shrieks.

The young man – merman? – jumps, his face switching from anxious to frightened as Makoto begins to scramble backward.  When it shifts to hurt, he stops.

“That – you  – what – _huh_?”  Makoto feels like he can’t breathe as he watches, mesmerized, as the tail moves up and down with an easy, almost lazy fluidity.  It twitches under his gaze, though, as if he’s making it nervous. 

“I…”  He looks up, meeting very blue, very round eyes, and the breath goes out of him once more. 

Then there’s movement, the tail whips around, and with a splash he’s disappearing into the surf, taking whatever powers of speech Makoto might have garnered with him.

**

Makoto has completely forgotten the fact that he had been drowning who-knew-how-long before until he finds the flurry of activity waiting for him at the pier.  He nearly falls back when the twins glom onto him at a sprint, their crying and yelling coming out as nothing but confused babbling as they cling tighter to his legs.

“We thought you were dead, onii-chan!”

“The big wave went over you and you never came up!”

“I was so scared!”

“I’m sorry I called the lifeguard now that you’re okay!”

That last outburst confuses Makoto for a moment – that is, until he sees the ambulance and crew of EMTs watching from several meters away.  “You… what?”

Ran looks up, tears streaming down her face as she wails, “You disappeared and we didn’t know what to do so I made Ren run to the lifeguard and he couldn’t find you so he called the emergency number and the ambulance showed up and we still couldn’t find you and everyone thought you were dead but they couldn’t give up looking because a person has to be gone for a few days to be considered missing and Ren and I knew you weren’t missing you were just hiding somewhere, right?”  She takes a deep breath, sobbing, “You were h-hiding from us!”

“There, there,” Makoto croons, kneeling down and taking the twins into his arms.  They each fling their bony arms around him, burying their snotty, teary faces into his chest and sobbing even harder.  He strokes the back of Ran’s head and rubs Ren’s back reassuringly, murmuring to them that he’s here, he isn’t a ghost, he’s alive, everything will be okay.

“Makoto?”

He twists his head around, and his mother’s shaking, biting back a sob as she jerkily makes her way over.  “I – I got a call from the police station, they s-said something had h-happened to you…”  She stops an arm’s length away, watching Makoto as if he might turn to smoke if she touched him.  “R-ran and ren were out of their minds with worry, w-we all were – ”

“ _Mom_ – ”

He gets cut off when she falls on top of him and the twins, jarring him and nearly causing him to tip over.  “Mom, I’m – ”  Her hands grip his hair, pulling a little too hard, and Makoto lets her, trying to stay as still as he can as his family comes to terms with his return from the dead.

Finally he’s let go, the twins wipe away the snot with the backs of their hands, and his mother hides her still-trembling mouth behind her clasped hands.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto manages, watching their red-rimmed eyes and remembering blue.  “I don’t know what I was thinking…”

“Stupid!” Ran yells, hitting his arm with all the fury her small form can muster.  “So stupid!”

Makoto winces sheepishly.

“Ran-chan,” his mother chides, her voice coming out hoarse and a little defeated, “You should be kinder to your brother.”

“Sorry,” she grumbles, looking off to the side in a huff and continuing to sniffle.  “He’s still stupid, though.”

“Onii-chan, let’s go home,” Ren says, tugging on Makoto’s other arm.  “I want to go home.”

“Of course.”  Makoto stands, letting his siblings each take a hand as he walks toward his mother.  “I’m sorry,” he repeats, and she just shakes her head, refusing to speak lest the tears make a sudden reappearance.

The EMT crew grumble as they pack off, another false alarm wasting their time, but Makoto’s grateful he doesn’t have to be whisked away to the hospital.  He might have, if it hadn’t been for, well –

Makoto tries to push it to the back of his mind, focusing instead on his family.  He needs to make sure they’re okay.

**

“Ah, Mako-chan, Mako-chan!”

Nagisa’s running up the stairs to Makoto’s house, his face lit up with the news he’s just heard.

“Mako-chan!”

“Nagisa-kun, slow down!”

“Ah, Rei-chan needs to build more muscle so he can climb the stairs to Mako-chan’s faster!”

Makoto just watches from his front yard with a smile on his face as Rei struggles for a response. 

“Mako-chan!”  Nagisa stops in front of him, a little breathless, his cheeks flushed from exertion.  “You’re not dead!”

“N-no, I’m not…”  Makoto laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck.  “You thought I was dead?”

“Of course not!”  Nagisa’s grin quickly fades into a conspiratorial glower.  “Rei-chan, though, he was _convinced_ – ”

“I was not!”

Makoto laughs.  “It’s still good to see you,” he says.  “Really.”

“Does Rin-chan know?”

“No, I never got a chance to – ”

“Poor Rin-chan!” Nagisa wails, gripping the front of Makoto’s shirt and sagging in despair.  “What if he’s heartbroken?  Inconsolable?  _Suicidal_?”

“I’m pretty sure Rin wouldn’t _kill himself_ because I – ”

“Rin-chan cares about Mako-chan a lot,” Nagisa interrupts, suddenly letting go.  “He’s been Mako-chan’s best friend since elementary school.”

“He’s been in Australia – ”

“Still your best friend.”

Makoto sighs.  There’s no point in arguing when it comes to Nagisa, who continues to babble incessantly as he leads Makoto into his own home.

“…and I barely believed it when Rei-chan texted me and said you were on the news!”

“Wha – I _was_?”

“You didn’t see it?”  Nagisa turns around casually.  “They had a story about you.  Or, well, more complaining about you, but still.  They showed the twins.”

“No one told me about that…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Nagisa chirps as they shed their shoes.  “Tell us what happened!”

“Well,” Makoto begins, biting his lip.  “I don’t really know where to start.”

“Where were you when it happened?” Rei asks.

“Rei-chan, don’t be stupid!”  Nagisa’s voice is harsh, but the lighthearted smile gives him away when Rei jumps, blushing.  “He was swimming!”

“I – I meant to say what were you doing!”

“He was _swimming_ – ”

“No, Nagisa, it’s fine,” Makoto says, shooting Rei a reassuring smile.  “I _was_ swimming, but it was because I was trying to get back into shape after not swimming for two weeks while I was in Tokyo.”

“Oh, yeah, how was Mako-chan’s trip?”

“I’ll get to it later,” Makoto smiles before becoming serious again.  “I had reached the pier when a fairly large wave washed over me, and a few seconds later I just got pulled out by a really strong current.  Now that I think about it, it was probably a rip tide,” he adds thoughtfully.

“Was it scary?”

“Y-yeah…”  Makoto hesitates.  The feeling of being so powerless washes over him as suddenly as it had happened – he remembers not being able to suck in that one final breath before the water swallowed him up, the panic of finding himself utterly helpless as he felt the current clawing at him and dragging him into some nightmarish lair where he was going to die.  And it was that certainty, that feeling of dread that crystallized his insides when he realized that he was never going to breathe again, that these were his last moments, full of terror and confusion and _I have to see the twins again_ –

He remembers the moment where his lungs gave out and water flooded his airways, the sick _wrongness_ of it when invisible hands constricted around his throat as he gagged, his mind going fuzzy as he started to give up, to give in to the monstrous ocean…

And then him.  Those arms reaching around him, pulling him close and pushing him upward, carrying him to safety –

“And then I woke up on the beach!”  He smiles, tilting his head.  “I don’t know what happened before that.  I think I blacked out or something.”

“You don’t know how you survived?”

Makoto shakes his head, hoping to shake the thoughts of silver fins out of it. 

“Oh, maybe it was a mermaid!”

“What?!”

“You know, like in the stories!”  Nagisa positively glows as he jumps up and down on the balls of his feet.  “That’d be so cool!”

“I – I really don’t think – ”

“He was obviously carried back by another current,” Rei pitches in.  “He may not remember, but it’s possible he was able to keep himself afloat while he was being carried out.”

Makoto’s mouth goes dry.  “I guess…”

“Aw, Rei-chan, don’t be so boring,” Nagisa moans, pouting.  “Don’t ruin the fun!”

“ I’m not ruining anything!”

“Are too!”

Makoto turns away as Nagisa dodges a poorly-aimed swat with a laugh and a grin – he’s seen enough of these squabbles to know there’s nothing he can do to stop them. 

**

Not ten minutes after Rei and Nagisa have bid their farewells, Makoto’s phone goes off.

“Rin?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Makoto smiles.  “Hello to you, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you drowned? I had to hear it from fucking Nagisa, who was all,” his voice goes up in a bad imitation of Nagisa’s usual excited babble,“‘Rin-chan didn’t hear?  Rin-chan didn’t know?  Rin-chan must be feeling very betrayed by Mako-chan, huh!’”  A tetchy scoff, and then, “You’re such an asshole, putting me through this kind of shit.  How dare you.”

“I’m sorry?”  Makoto scratches the back of his neck.  “I guess I wasn’t sure if you’d have been practicing or not.  I probably should’ve mailed you, though.  Sorry.”

Rin’s sigh crackles over the line.  “Whatever, dude.  At least you’re not dead.  Which is a surprise, since you’ve really let yourself go these last few months.  I’m disappointed in you, Mako.”

“Not everyone has aspirations as grand as the Olympics, you know,” Makoto chides.

Another scoff.  “You’re selling yourself short.  We’d totally be able to do the relay if you hadn’t given up on competing.”

“It was no fun after you left.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not here, actually,” Makoto teases.

“And why is that?”

“If the twins heard you swearing as much as you do, my mother would never forgive me for bringing in such a corrupting influence.”

“When have I ever corrupted anyone?  I’m a fucking saint.”  Makoto can hear the humor in his voice, though, and laughs.

“You’d be the patron saint of swimming.”

“Damn straight.  And your mom loves me.  _Loves_ me.”

“That’s because she remembers nice twelve year-old you and has no idea how messed up you’ve become.”

“Australia changes people.”

Makoto laughs.  “Right.”  They grow quiet, and when Makoto pipes up with “Nagisa wanted to know – ” Rin says, “I’m really glad you’re not rotting away in some killer whale stomach right now.”

Makoto gasps.  “Rin, do you really feel that way?”

He can practically see the angry, confused look pass over Rin’s face as he realizes just how sentimental he’s been.  “Fuck no, you would have deserved it for being so stupid!”

Makoto’s smiling, though.  “I’m sorry I made you worry.” 

“Oh, my God, _no_ , Makoto, _don’t_ start this – ”

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

Rin hesitates.  “Good.”  Makoto allows his smile to stretch into a grin, heartened to know his friend still has a heart.

“What were you asking when I made a complete ass of myself?”

“Oh, that.”  Makoto chuckles.  “Nagisa wanted to know if you’ve seen how koalas have sex yet.”

Rin’s answering groan of frustration sets off a fresh wave of static that forces Makoto to hold the phone away from his ear for a few seconds.

**

The house is too quiet when Makoto finally hangs up, the twins having gone to bed something around an hour ago.  He sighs, leaning back in the chair at his desk and studying the dim ceiling.  He feels weird, the disconnect he’s been experiencing with everyone around him making his head ache.  All of the reactions to his… accident have left him unsettled, almost guilty – like he should be more worried about what happened, more afraid since the fear that’s been wrapped around his heart since childhood has finally been realized.  Makoto can tell how his blithe assertions that he’s okay are affecting his friends and family – he’s seen the way their eyes tighten, the way the smiles freeze onto their faces as they begin to wonder how scarred Makoto must be despite his appearances.  Except he isn’t.  He’s perfectly fine, perfectly sane, perfectly safe. 

_Except…_

There’s always the possibility he imagined it.  Maybe all the saltwater he’d swallowed had made him hallucinate.  Maybe he’d just been so exhausted his mind played a trick on him.

Makoto had never thought himself to be the kind of person to believe in anything fantastic.  When he was smaller, sure, it was always cool, if a little terrifying at times, to imagine a world beyond his knowledge, but now, with him nearing his third year of high school, Makoto simply doesn’t have the time.  He isn’t Nagisa, who somehow managed to escape disenchantment and the general sense of cynicism that comes with growing up.  And Makoto wouldn’t necessarily call himself a cynic, not exactly – he’s always considered himself quite the optimist, actually – but there’s still the nagging feeling that he’s been left weak by his education, the crutch of cool logic and human reason not enough to support any of the questions currently clogging Makoto’s head.  Questions like _If I touched his tail, would it be warm?_

He sighs, looking out the window to the sliver of ocean visible between the neighboring buildings. 

_Is he there?  Right now?_

Without thinking, he’s standing up, finding his shoes, and grabbing his phone – he may be acting in a haze, but there’s still enough clarity to understand that he shouldn’t be _completely_ alone if he were to find himself in an emergency situation. 

His parents have already retired to their room, reading side-by-side in their bed.  Makoto hasn’t snuck out since that time Rin was visiting and insisted he carry out an act of teenaged rebellion at least _once_ in his pathetically domestic life, but he remembers enough that no one’s chasing him down the stairs as he makes his way down to the shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually inserts best friend!Rin because I am a desperate & selfish Rin stan  
> And I know that with rip tides you're supposed to swim parallel to the shore until you're not being pulled out and then swim back, blah blah blah, but shh just go with it


	2. Chapter 2

Makoto honestly doesn’t know what he’d expected to find when he got to the beach.  It’s completely empty as he sits down, hugging his knees to his chest and shivering a little against the cold sand.  There’s nothing to see when he looks out at the black water, nothing except the dimly lit foam clinging to the surf and the occasional gleam of moonlight against the shivering surface, the only clues besides the constant crashing that there’s anything out there at all. 

He sighs, closing his eyes against the breeze and breathing in the damp, salty air.  It’s weird to think that only a day ago, he’d been on the brink of death – he feels so alive now, the flush of his cheeks against the humid summer’s night, the pulse twitching in his thumb as it rests against his knee, the stretching of his ribcage as his lungs expand all signs of his vitality, his status of being among the living. 

It’s peaceful.

Of course, he’s the only one who feels that way, and he feels the guilt prick at his heart when he thinks of how careful his family’s been with him, walking on eggshells whenever he’s in the room.  As if he might break if the wrong word is said, triggering some kind of post-traumatic response that could land Makoto in the hospital.  Which Makoto thinks is a bit silly, overreacting even, but it’s his family, and they care about him, and he appreciates that. 

He rests his temple on his kneecaps, watching the lights on the pier twinkle in the distance. 

There’s a splash among the rush of waves, and Makoto lifts his head like a dog catching a scent.  He sees something move in the water, narrowing his eyes to see a head bobbing up and down a few meters off shore.  Its eyes make contact with Makoto before ducking down and disappearing.

“Hey!”  Makoto lurches to his feet, stumbling over the sand until the water’s eating at his calves and splashing onto his shorts.  “Come back!”

He considers wading into the surf, diving, even, if it means he’ll catch up.  He pulls his shirt off over his head, and as he tosses it onto the sand behind him, his eye catches on the gleam of a dolphin’s tail.

Makoto falls back, surprised, landing on his butt just as a wave surges over his lap. 

He doesn’t know what to say, the words dying in his throat as they just _stare_. 

Finally, he clears his throat.  “H-hi,” he says lamely.

The merman’s face only remains blank as he studies Makoto, who blurts out, “S-since you learned my name the other day, and I don’t know yours, I was – well, I was wondering if – ”

“Haruka.”

Another wave washes over Makoto, the spray hitting him in the face.  “H – eh?”

The merman blinks, and Makoto realizes.  “Oh, that – that’s your name!”  He laughs, clapping a hand to his forehead.  “Wow, I’m dumb.”

Haruka frowns.  “What do you mean?”

“Ah, um – ”  Makoto’s face starts heating up, and he hopes it’s dark enough that Haruka won’t notice.  “I just… I’m normally less awkward.”  A nervous chuckle, and then he sighs with a sad smile.  “I promise I’m not stupid.”

“I never said you were.”

“I – _oh_.”  He laughs again, burning up.  “I’m sorry.”  He nearly falls over when the water surges up again – the tide must be coming in.

Haruka watches him sit up with the undertow, inscrutable as a cat.  “Don’t apologize.”

“I – okay.”  He gives Haruka another smile, the fact that he hasn’t disappeared yet making him feel a little giddy. 

“You should probably get out of the waves, though,” Haruka says, assessing Makoto’s drenched state with a critical eye.

“I should?”  Makoto wipes his dripping hair out of his eyes and looks down at his sopping shorts and bare chest, finally noticing the way his body is shivering despite the warm and humid night air.  “Y-you’re r-right…”  He stands, conscious of Haruka watching him, of the way his shorts are clinging unflatteringly to his legs, and he shuffles across the sand until he’s out of the waves’ reach, plopping down against the cold ground.

Haruka doesn’t move from his spot in the water, but his gaze on Makoto remains intent.

“I guess I should get h-home now, huh?” Makoto asks with a weak smile.  When Haruka stays silent, he looks away, scrabbling for his shirt and pulling it on over his head to hide his crestfallen expression.  “I’ll g-get sick if I stay out like this for too long,” he adds, feeling some stupid need to fill the silence.  He swallows, catching Haruka from the corner of his eye.  “I – I hope we meet again sometime soon.”

He turns away before he can find out if that got a reaction out of the stoic merman or not, hugging himself as his body gives in to a fresh wave of convulsions. 

**

Makoto _does_ get sick, and Nagisa can’t help but stare at the bags under his eyes and the continual stream of snot running from his nose in utter fastination when he visits the next day.

“You look like _death_ ,” he says with wide, bright eyes, his mouth falling into a sloppy, open smile as Makoto squints against a headache.  “I guess the universe really wants Mako-chan dead, huh?”

“Nagisa,” Makoto bites out between gritted teeth, “Don’t.”

“It’s like it’s trying to punish you for surviving the ocean,” he continues, oblivious to the evil eye Makoto’s giving him as he turns away thoughtfully.  “Like some weird perverted sort of karma.  Did you anger any bearded men lately?”

Makoto just stares at him blearily.  “What.”

Nagisa waves his hands emphatically.  “Like an old guy!  With a really long beard,” he adds, gesturing to his baby-smooth cheeks.  “And bushy eyebrows, and a bunch of wrinkles, and knobby knees, and _oh_ , he’d _totally_ have a cane to hit people with – ”

“What on earth are you getting at?” Makoto asks from behind a tissue.

“A _shaman_.”  Nagisa’s looking at Makoto as if this is supposed to be an earth-shattering revelation.  “Have you angered anyone who might, you know, try to kill you through nefarious magical means?”

Makoto sighs, closes his eyes, and pinches the bridge of his nose.  “No.”

“Aw, don’t be like that!”  Nagisa pouts before plopping down next to Makoto and grabbing his arm.  “Work with me here!  I’m trying to help you!”

“First of all,” Makoto says, wobbling as Nagisa shakes him, “Where would I even find a shaman around here?”

“There are mystical places in Iwatobi – no, there really are!”  Nagisa makes a panicked squeak when Makoto gently shrugs him off and he tips onto his back.

“Nagisa, I didn’t upset any shaman, okay?”  Makoto helps him up, slightly abashed.  “I went for a walk last night and caught something, that’s all.”

“That’s not fun at all,” Nagisa moans.

“Sorry to disappoint.”  Makoto gets up from the tatami and begins gathering up the remnants of their tea.  He ruffles Nagisa’s hair as he passes behind him, asking, “Where’s Rei, by any chance?”

“He said he couldn’t make it.” 

Makoto doesn’t fail to catch the bummed note of Nagisa’s voice, and he gives a sympathetic hum.  “Is he still intent on keeping up with track?”

Nagisa shrugs.  “Probably.”  His eyes go down to his lap, and Makoto feels a twinge of guilt for bringing the subject up.  He has an idea something happened between his friends during the two weeks he was in Tokyo – aside from their joint trip to check in on him after his drowning, he hasn’t seen them together since he got back a week ago.  Every time he suggested they do something, one of them would offer up a sudden excuse while the other looked away awkwardly, and if Makoto’s being honest, he has no idea how he might try helping them.  He isn’t sure he can just _ask_ , not when the mere mention of Rei sends Nagisa into an instant depression.

 It doesn’t stay for long, though, Nagisa being the resilient creature he is, and Makoto braces himself when he perks back up.  “Did Rin-chan call you yesterday?”

 “Yeah,” Makoto says, cringing slightly, “and apparently he was upset that you were the one who told him about it.”

Nagisa’s smile is smug.  “It’s not like you were racing to tell him yourself.”

He adjusts his grip on the tea tray.  “I didn’t want him to worry.”

“He worries anyway.”  His smile warms when Makoto looks surprised.  “Mako-chan doesn’t realize it, but Rin-chan is very concerned about you.”

“He is?”

Nagisa nods sagely.  “When he left for Australia, he asked me to keep an eye on you because he knew you would have a hard time being on your own with middle school starting and all.”

“How could he expect you to keep an eye on me if you’re a year below me?”

“Beats me!”  He laughs at Makoto’s put-out expression.  “I guess he was worried you’d be too shy to make any real friends.  Or whatever.”

“I made friends easily enough!” Makoto snaps with a very uncharacteristic scowl.  Must be the cold. 

“It’s not like you had that many when Rin transferred, though.” 

“I – that isn’t – ”  Makoto raises the tea tray defensively.  “I was fine!”

“Then why is Rin still your only good friend your age?” Nagisa asks archly.

Makoto turns for the kitchen.  “I’m not discussing this.”

“Did you feel like you were betraying Rin?”  Nagisa chases after Makoto, bouncing into the kitchen after he shuffles over to the sink.  “You didn’t want to jeopardize the budding romance between you?  You’re blushing, so I’m right, aren’t I?  You were in love with Rin-chan!”

“Nagisa, for the love of – ”

“Do you still love him?  Did he ever return your feelings?  Have you been exchanging dirty love letters this whole time?”  Delighted laughter bubbles out of Nagisa as he stands on tip-toe to get closer to Makoto’s face so he can scrutinize it.  “Has your entire adolescence been the plot of a badly-written yaoi manga?”

Makoto sneezes, and Nagisa falls back in terror.

“Excuse me,” is Makoto’s muffled apology as he grabs the nearest towel to wipe his face.  “That was really disgusting, I’m sorry.”

“That was so _cool_!”  Makoto looks at Nagisa in confusion as he quivers with excitement.  “Just snot!  Snot flying everywhere!  Chaos reigns in Mako-chan’s sinuses!”

“I wish Rei were here,” Makoto mumbles into the towel.

“Aw, don’t be like that!”

“And furthermore, Rin’s so self-centered it’d be stupid for anyone to like him, let alone me.”

“So you _have_ considered it.”

“I’m not even going to dignify that question with an answer.”

“That means you did!”

Makoto sighs, bracing himself against the sink.  “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Sorry.”  But Nagisa doesn’t sound sorry at all as he leans against the counter next to Makoto.  “I’d suggest we go to the beach so you could get some nice fresh air, but you kind of almost died there so I’m thinking we probably shouldn’t, huh?”  He gives a nervous laugh when Makoto gives him a blank look.  “It might, you know, bring back… memories?”  His voice trails off as Makoto looks away, absentmindedly wiping his still-running nose with the towel.

Would Haruka be there if Makoto was dragged along by Nagisa to the beach?  Would they find him hiding in the waves, peeking over the crests as he had the night before?  Makoto doesn’t think Haruka would call attention to himself if he showed up with another person… he might think Makoto didn’t want to see him, that he’d brought the company as a deterrent –

“I don’t want to go to the beach,” he says in a hurry, looking over at Nagisa with mild panic.  “I – you’re right, it might make me remember what – what happened.” 

“Was it really bad?” Nagisa asks in a hushed voice, his eyes growing wide.

“I really don’t want to talk about it just because you have this weird fascination with my almost-death, okay?” Makoto snaps.

Nagisa shrinks back, abashed.  “Sorry, Mako-chan.” 

Makoto sighs and rubs the top of Nagisa’s head.  “It’s fine.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

Another sigh.  “No.  Mom’s out with the twins shopping for one of their friends' birthday, so you can probably stay over for a movie.”  That puts a smile on Nagisa’s face, and Makoto feels a little bit of weight lift from his shoulders.  “And if you linger long enough, Mom will probably ask you to stay for dinner.”

The cheer Nagisa gives is both enough to make Makoto’s headache pound and put a smile on his face.

**

After the table has been cleared and the dishes washed, Nagisa slumps onto the couch with a deeply contented groan.

“My compliments to the chef,” he mumbles, a sleepy smile melting across his face.

“You certainly ate enough,” Makoto says, watching him spread out across the cushions.  “Nagisa, what are you doing?”

“Can I sleep over?”

“No.”

“Aw, why?”  His eyes are closed, and he’s pouting, but Makoto stays strong.

“I don’t want you to catch what I have.”

One eye opens.  “I’ve been here all day.  If I haven’t already caught what Mako-chan has, it’d be a miracle.”

“It won’t be fair to Rei.”

Nagisa moans.  “Don’t say his name!”

“Should I ask?”

“No,” he grumbles.

Makoto reaches out to shake him.  “Come on, let’s get up.”

“No!”

“ _Nagisa_.”

He moans pathetically, but he lets Makoto help him into a sitting position.  “Are you sure your mom didn’t spike my meal with something?  I feel funny.”

“You’re just tired from eating so much food.”

“Then I should stay!” he insists.  “What if I fall asleep on the train and someone tries to kidnap me?”

“No one’s kidnapping you.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I don’t mind if Nagisa-kun stays the night,” Makoto’s mom says from the kitchen.  “I’ll help you set up the futon.”

“No, Mom, you don’t have to – ”

Nagisa springs up.  “I’ll do it!”

And so Makoto finds himself tip-toeing past Nagisa’s sprawled-out form several hours and too many games of Uno later, doing his best to not to make any noise that might wake him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured since Haruka isn't around, the swim club wouldn't have been as successful when Nagisa tried to start it up. Hence, Rei is still doing track, and Makoto and Nagisa have to swim in their spare time!


	3. Chapter 3

Makoto’s broken a sweat by the time he reaches the pier, and he wipes the back of his hand across his forehead as he scans the beach for any undulating fins.  He doesn’t see any, which, in all honesty, he had expected – he can’t expect Haruka to have nothing better to do besides wait for Makoto to turn up on a whim.  Or, at least, Makoto thinks that’s the case; he really has no idea what mermaids do in their spare time. 

He wipes his forehead again as he makes his way down to the sand and sits a few meters away from the surf.  Even if Haruka doesn’t show up, Makoto thinks he’ll be okay as he patiently dabs at his nose, watching the foam-tipped waves and feeling content.  He catches himself smiling despite his cold and the humidity, and he leans back on his hands and breathes in the thick night air, tilting his head back to study the stars.  It’s been a long night, having to entertain Nagisa along with the twins, and while Makoto honestly loves the time he spends with his friends and family, he feels worn out, fatigue dragging him down until his back hits the sand.  He spreads his arms and legs out like he’s about to make an angel, closing his eyes and staying still as the heat from his body seeps into the cool sand.

He doesn’t move when he thinks he hears something solid sliding against wet sand, not wanting to feel the disappointment sink in his gut like a stone when he finds nothing there.  So he’s more than a little surprised when something cold and wet nudges his bare foot.

He yelps, springing to life as he finds Haruka’s mildly disgruntled face watching him.

“D-don’t do that,” he says, his voice shaking as he arranges himself into a more composed sitting position.  His heart won’t leave his throat, fluttering like a panicked bird as he tries to calm down.

“Sorry.”  Haruka doesn’t look sorry at all, though, studying Makoto’s flushing face with inscrutable eyes.  “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Oh, that.”  Makoto sniffs and wipes his nose with the back of a hand.  “I ended up getting sick.”

Haruka frowns.  “Then you shouldn’t have come.”

Makoto looks away, coughing as his face heats up.  “Oh, um, s-sorry…”

“You’ll only end up getting sicker if you stay.” 

His ears burn, and when Makoto peeks over at Haruka, he thinks he sees the merman’s cheeks darkened with a blush, and it makes his stomach twist.  He isn’t sure where to go from here, isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do, what he should say, or what he should make of the way his heart is still trying to beat its way out of his chest.  He can’t breathe, there’s snot running down his throat, and he gathers sand in his sweaty palms before letting it fall back down, watching it as he becomes painstakingly aware of Haruka’s eyes on him.

“I just w-wanted to see you again,” he finally mumbles, wishing desperately for a giant wave to suddenly whisk him away.

Makoto can’t see Haruka’s face, so he could be imagining it when a muttered _Stupid_ reaches his ears.

They’re quiet, and Makoto swallows some of the tightness in his throat.  He’s still looking away when he asks, “D-do you want me to leave?” his cold-thick voice cracking despite himself.

Haruka doesn’t answer, and when Makoto looks up, he’s studying something in his hand that Makoto instantly recognizes.

“My watch!”

Haruka’s eyes tighten, and his shoulders visibly tense as Makoto begins to reach out, stopping half-propped up on his knees. 

Makoto frowns.  “Why – why do you have my watch?”

He stubbornly looks off to the side, and Makoto can’t help the smile that pulls on his lips as he grumbles, “It fell off.”

“You mean when I was struggling in the water?”  Makoto sits back on his heels, his smile fading away as the rush of water nearby becomes a little more threatening.

Haruka shrugs, frowning at the fear that must be filling Makoto’s face.  “You didn’t have it when I pulled you onto the beach, so I went back for it.”

“R-Really?”  Makoto’s face heats up, the memories temporarily pushed back as he looks down at the sand, thankful for the cover of darkness as he tries to gain control of himself.  “I – thank you.”

“It doesn’t belong in the water.”  Haruka seems to find the watch in his hand very fascinating when Makoto looks up at him with wide eyes.  “I just want to keep my home clean, that’s all.”

Makoto nods, a small smile threatening to spread across his face.  “Okay.”

His hand tightens around the orange plastic.  “I think it’s broken, but I’m not – ”

He jerks back when Makoto reaches for his hand, dropping the watch in his haste and falling back, his cheeks blooming a dusky shade in the dim light.  Makoto freezes, his stomach constricting as Haruka watches him like a frightened animal, his face heating up out of shame as he drops his gaze to his hands clenched in his lap.  “I’m sorry.”  Makoto’s voice is small, and his eyes burn with angry tears as he kicks himself for not thinking about what he was doing.  “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You – I’m not – ”

“It’s okay, Haruka.”  He glances up, momentarily surprised when he finds Haruka’s face split open with an odd sort of desperation – it makes his palms start sweating again.   “I… I won’t look for you again, if you don’t want me to.”  He picks up the watch and absentmindedly rubs his thumb over the waterlogged face, a sad smile tugging his lip when he remembers the almost reverent way Haruka had been holding it.  Like it was some kind of treasure instead of a spur-of-the-moment purchase brought about by a sign that said _50% off!_   He swallows, his throat thick when he says, “I just – I don’t know, I th-thought you appreciated… the company…”

“Makoto.”

His eyes snap up, and Haruka’s eyes are shining brightly in the lights from the pier.  “Don’t apologize.”

His face feels like it’s falling apart when his mouth stretches into a disbelieving grin.  “D-does this mean we can – ”

“I don’t know when,” Haruka says, turning toward the darker side of the beach with what sounds like a nervous huff.  “But you shouldn’t come back until you’re healthy again.”

Makoto feels the watch fall from his hand, but he hardly notices when he sees the way Haruka glances at him from the corner of his eye.  “H-Haru – ”

“Mako-chan!”

Haruka’s gone before Nagisa’s even finished calling out for Makoto, disappearing in a flash of silver that leaves Makoto breathless; he’s never seen anything so graceful.

“Mako-chan!”

Makoto turns around, more than a little dazed as Nagisa comes puffing up to his crouched form.

“I got up to pee and you were gone!”

“You – what?” 

Nagisa falls back onto the sand and sprawls out as he looks up at the sky.  “I woke up, and my bladder was going to explode if I didn’t get up to pee right that second, and when I walked by your room to get to the bathroom, your door was open and you weren’t in your bed.”  His eyes turn to Makoto.  “And since I know you like to pretend you’re a martyr, I figured I would find you at the source of your misery.”  A smile.  “Right, Mako-chan?”

“I – I guess?”

Nagisa heaves a sigh, turning back to the clouds gathering in front of the stars.  “Whatever happened here must have been very traumatic, since you’re always so distracted whenever it’s involved.”

Makoto just shrugs.  “I can’t really explain myself.”

“It’s okay,” Nagisa says.  “As long as Mako-chan thinks he’s okay.”  This time it’s his head turning to Makoto, his face concerned.  “You _are_ okay, right?”

Makoto’s looking ahead, scanning the sand and smiling when he doesn’t see anything.  “Yeah.  I’m okay.”

**

Paired with a lack of sleep, Makoto’s cold gets even worse, and he has to lay his head down on the table when Ran and Ren find out about his and Nagisa’s nighttime outing.

“We want to go to the beach too!” Ren cries, almost knocking over his cereal in the process.

Ran simply pouts, leaning into the edge of the table and moaning, “How come Nagisa-chan gets to go to the beach with onii-chan but we can’t?  You’re not even related to Nagisa-chan!”

“That’s cold,” Nagisa interjects.

Ran ignores him, leaning across the table and grabbing Makoto’s arm.  “ _Please_ , onii-chan!”

“Yeah, please!”

Makoto doesn’t lift his head when he says, “Onii-chan is sick and needs to stay home.”

“That didn’t stop you from going last night!”

He turns to Nagisa with a withering look.  “You just _had_ to tell them, huh?”

“It just slipped out.”  Nagisa gives a nervous chuckle.  “Sorry.”

He sits up then, smiling as best as he can at the twins across the table.  It isn’t their fault Nagisa has such loose lips.  “Eat your breakfast, and then we’ll go.”

And so he finds himself watching the waves beat down on the sand for the fourth time in less than three days, his nose so congested he has to breathe the sweaty summer air through his mouth while the twins argue over the best way to hunt for sea shells.  They’re at a different part of the beach from where Makoto has gone the last two nights, the pier small and gray and too far away for Makoto to drift off to without worrying too much about the twins’ safety.  Nonetheless, he heaves a wistful sigh in that direction, wondering what Haruka might be doing this side of the sunrise.

“Onii-chan!”  Ran’s running over, a pink scallop shell grasped in her tiny hand.  “Look what Ren found!”

“That’s really nice, I’m very – _where did you find that_?”

In her other hand is Makoto’s orange watch, still dripping from its time in the water.

“It’s your watch!”

“I – I can see that…”  Makoto feels a little faint as she hands it to him, and then she’s bouncing away, leaving Makoto with it cradled in his hand like something priceless.  _Does that mean…?_

He can feel his throat tightening up, and he’s pretty sure he’s about to cry when his phone buzzes against his leg.

“H-hello?”  He cringes when he hears the tears thickening his voice.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Makoto, would you stop trying to kill yourself?”  Rin’s voice is bordering on shrill, causing Makoto to wince as the sound pierces his ear.

“What?”

“I swear to God if that’s the beach I hear I am coming to Japan and giving you a much-needed kick to the head.”

“Rin, I’m not – why do you think I’m trying to kill myself?”

“Nagisa told me you have some kind of martyr death wish.”

Makoto deflates.  “ _How_ does Nagisa get all of this information to you so quickly?”

“You probably don’t want to know,” Rin says, and Makoto knows he’s forgiven – he can hear the smile in his voice. 

He sits down on the sand, admiring the wretched watch as Rin utters a few more empty threats before saying, “You sounded like death when you answered, are you okay?”

Makoto shrugs even though Rin can’t see him.  “I got sick after the accident.”

“And you’re revisiting the scene of the crime a few days later.  What the fuck.”

“Honestly, it wasn’t as traumatic as everyone’s thinking it is,” Makoto grumbles.  “I’m alive, aren’t I?”

Rin scoffs.  “Barely.”

Makoto frowns.  “You’re worse than my mom.”

“That’s why we get along so well.”

“Really?”

“Your _mom_ , Makoto, that’s why your _mom_ and I get along so well!”  Rin growls something under his breath before adding, “Is there still seawater addling your brains or something?  Fuck.”

“I _am_ here with children, you know,” Makoto chides.  “What if one of them took the phone and heard you say those kinds of words?”

“Makoto, _please_ , at that age I already knew what swear words were.”

“You’re not an example they should be following.”

“Whatever, dude.”  They lapse into silence, and Makoto glances over to make sure the twins are still only a few meters away; they are, and he feels himself relax without knowing he had even tensed up.

He breathes in, watching the water intently as he says, “Nagisa told me about his promise to keep an eye on me when you moved.”

Rin doesn’t say anything, and Makoto begins to worry he’s made the wrong decision when he says, “That little _shit_ , I’m going to _kill_ him.”

“R-Rin, I don’t think that’s a good idea – ”

“I was fucking twelve, oh my God!”  Makoto can’t help the laugh that bursts out of his throat as Rin groans loudly into the receiver.  “He’s still hanging onto that?”

“He _was_ the one to tell you about what happened with me,” Makoto points out, his smile stretching when Rin makes a distressed noise.

“Okay, _no_ , that’s because he’s the only one who actually realizes that shit needs to be _shared_ with me.”

“Are you sure _he’s_ the one still hanging onto that arrangement?”

“I’m your best fucking friend!  I deserve to know what’s happening with you, and if you aren’t going to tell me yourself, of course I’m going to fucking ask Nagisa!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Makoto laughs as Rin takes a deep breath.  “Take another deep breath.”

“You better not die before my visit, you hear?”

“I’m not dying.”

“My mom’s already bought my plane ticket, it’d be fiscally irresponsible of you.”

“Rin, I’m not going to die.”

“Good.”

Makoto’s eyes return to the watch as Rin goes on to complain about life in Australia (“There is literally no such thing as nice weather here it’s just shitty all the time”), a smile breaking out across his face as he imagines a dolphin’s dorsal fin breaking the surface of the waves as a child runs to her brother, a cheap piece of orange plastic clutched tightly in her hand, the time on its face frozen at the moment he met his savior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only been a week since the last chapter, but it feels like longer, I dunno
> 
> I can't say when I'll be able to get a new chapter out soon, because midterms start in two weeks and I know school work is going to get crazy right before then, but I'll do my best to work on it when I can so that by the time midterms are over I can post something decent.


	4. Chapter 4

“But if humans wear shoes all the time, why don’t other animals with legs wear shoes too?”

“They don’t… need them?  I mean, horses have their own kind of shoes, but…”

“All humans wear shoes?”

“Usually, when we go somewhere.  It’s rude to wear shoes in someone’s house.”

“Why?”

Makoto hesitates, resting a thoughtful finger against pursed lips.  “I don’t know,” he admits, peeking up at Haruka’s curious frown.  “It just… that’s just the way it is.  That’s what everyone does.”

Haruka scoffs.  “That’s weird.”

“I guess it is,” Makoto laughs, and his face relaxes into a fond smile when Haruka’s frown only deepens, meaning he has another question.  “What?”

Haruka’s eyes dart over to meet his.  “Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s nothing,” he insists.

Makoto raises his eyebrows.

Haruka, defeated, his face perhaps a little too pink, sighs and looks off to Makoto’s left.              

“Why are the shoes the only thing you take off?”

Makoto’s face breaks out in a blush as he stammers something about nudity, looking away from Haruka’s blank, probing stare and wishing for something – a giant wave, a stray jogger, an earthquake, bird poop, _anything_ – to put an abrupt end to this conversation.  Haruka refuses to look at him as he tries to explain the function of clothing without sounding like a complete prude or spontaneously combusting when he realizes Haruka is essentially naked himself, his bare chest soaking in the sun as he lays back and idly moves his fins in the water.  It strikes Makoto dumb, speech failing him as he watches Haruka’s tail gleam in the sunlight.  He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to how beautiful it is.

Everything about Haruka is beautiful, Makoto thinks, from the way his tail is able to move so delicately to the way his blue eyes dance in the light coming off of the water, the way he wrinkles his nose only just slightly whenever he’s displeased.  Makoto finds himself wondering if Haruka’s hair is as soft as it looks, if it would feel like silk if he were to card his fingers through it, Haruka’s head settled comfortably on his leg, perhaps, those deep eyes closed as a soft, contented hum vibrates in the back of his throat.  He wants to know how Haruka’s hand would feel in his own, if the pale skin would be as soft and supple as velveteen or firm, like diamond in the form of flesh.

Makoto wonders how Haruka’s tail would feel under his hand, if he would be able to feel the immense power coursing through it, if it would react to his touch in some way, if it would be smooth or if it were actually covered in tiny scales –

“Makoto.”

“Huh?”  He rips his eyes away from the shining dorsal fin and finds Haruka wearing a slight frown. 

“You were staring.”

“S-sorry!”  Makoto feels tears in his eyes as he brings a hand up to cover his face, his insides screaming as he realizes how stupid he must have looked gaping at Haruka’s tail.  How _rude_ that must have been.

“It’s okay,” Haruka mumbles, and when Makoto peeks between his fingers, he’s rolling his head onto its side, looking down the white expanse of sand.  “I don’t blame you.”

“I – it’s not – don’t think – I wouldn’t – ”

Haruka looks up at Makoto from under his eyelashes, and Makoto feels the breath in his throat shrink back into his lungs. 

“It’s okay,” he repeats.  “I don’t mind.”

Makoto isn’t sure, but he thinks Haruka’s cheeks have become dusted with the faintest of flushes. 

He smiles.  “Thank you.”

Haruka, impassive as ever, simply looks down before sitting up and facing Makoto.  “You don’t have to thank me.”

“I – ”

Makoto gets interrupted by a buzzing noise, and he can’t remember what he was going to say when Haruka’s eyes go wide and he leans closer to Makoto, peering at his leg with the sort of fascination a scientist would reserve for a groundbreaking discovery.  It’s Makoto’s phone, and when it buzzes a second time, Haruka jumps, his eyes widening as the glow of the screen shines through the fabric of Makoto’s shorts.

“What – how is it doing that?”

Makoto smiles and fishes the phone out of his pocket before presenting it for Haruka’s inspection.  “It has a battery.”

“What’s a battery?”

He chews on his lip.  “It’s… it stores energy,” he finally says.  “So the phone has power.”

Haruka furrows his eyebrows for a moment before nodding seriously.  “Okay.”

Makoto smiles indulgently.  “Do you want to hold it?”

Haruka hesitates before allowing a small smile to grace his features, cautiously reaching out.  It goes off again as soon as it’s in his hands, and he drops it with a startled cry, Makoto watching in horror as it lands in a small puddle of water.

Haruka’s hand darts out to pick it up, his face contorting comically when it continues buzzing as he juggles it between his hands, a small noise of distress escaping from his throat.

“D-do you want me to take it back?” Makoto asks, worried Haruka might throw it into the incoming tide if he keeps wrangling with it.  “I actually – someone’s calling me – ”

Haruka squints at the screen before opening the phone and bringing it to his ear.  Makoto finds himself cringing as Rin’s tinny voice carries over to him and he hears the increasing irritability of his tone as Haruka remains silent on his end of the line.

_Mako?  Are you even there?_

Makoto reaches out and gently takes hold of Haruka’s wrist as he carefully extracts the phone from his hand.  Haruka eyes him warily and he smiles reassuringly, bringing the phone to his ear.

“Sorry, Rin, one of the twins got my phone for me,” he lies.

“They usually say hi,” Rin grumbles, sounding a bit hurt if Makoto has anything to say about it.  Then his voice changes, snapping, “Are you at the fucking beach _again_?”

“What can I say?  It’s summer.”

“Makoto, you almost _died_ , and every time I call you it seems like you’re trying to have a reenactment of it.”

Haruka’s staring at Makoto, and he can feel the back of his neck starting to heat up under his bland scrutiny.  “Can I call you back?  N-now’s a really bad time.”

“What, did a bunch of hot guys just come running out of the water with glistening muscles everywhere?”

“ _Rin!_ ”  Makoto hisses, flinching and glancing at Haruka to see if he’d heard that.  “Don’t say things like that!”

“You’re the one who told me you like that stuff,” Rin drawls, sounding bored when he adds, “It’s not my fault I can’t help but say stupid shit.”

Makoto brings a hand to his face, unable to look at Haruka anymore.  “Rin, please, just _stop_ – ”

“Oh, my God, you’re embarrassed.”

“Rin – ”

“Is someone there?  Are you on a date with someone?  You are, aren’t you?”  Rin laughs – no, _cackles_. “Oh, my God.”

“I’m going to hang up on you.”

“Fine, whatever, enjoy your _date_ – ”

Makoto hangs up before Rin can finish his thought, shoving the phone into his pocket with a frustrated sigh.

He hears a huff come from Haruka, and when he looks up he’s surprised to find his eyebrows furrowed, his nose beginning to wrinkle as if he’s angry about something.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice is quiet, careful. 

“Rin said things about being the best friend you could have when I answered, but when you talked to him, he made you upset.”  Haruka says this with his head down, studying his hands as they try to pick each other apart.  “I don’t like that.”

Makoto gasps, his cheeks brimming with heat while a smile tries to take over his face.  “H-Haru – Rin _is_ my best friend, I just – he’s just stupid,” Makoto sighs.  “I know that he doesn’t mean any ill will.”

“I wouldn’t trust him,” Haruka says decisively. 

Makoto simply laughs.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

**

That night, Makoto watches the clouds scud across the sky through the window above his bed, turning Haruka’s assessment of Rin over and over in his head until the only thoughts left are a confused jumble of irritation at Rin and fondness for Haruka, who’d been so concerned over the way Rin had embarrassed Makoto.  He catches himself smiling at the thought of Haruka being so indignant on his behalf, remembering the way he had looked when he stubbornly kept his eyes down as he revealed himself.  _I don’t like that._

He whispers Haruka’s name, blushing at the way it feels coming out of his throat, a sigh of pleasure that makes his pulse quicken and his palms sweat.  It’s suddenly too much for him to say, the three syllables stumbling over his tongue until he’s breathless imagining the delicate curve of his neck as he turns to look at Makoto with those eyes, alive despite the deadpan expression on his face.  Makoto rolls onto his side, curling into himself and whispering, _Haruka, Haru, Haru-chan…_

He snorts, knowing exactly how Haruka would react to _Haru-chan_.

His head pillowed on his hands, Makoto finds himself wondering where Haruka sleeps, not knowing what mermaids do when they’re not occupied with bashful and awkward humans.  Then he wonders if Haruka was watching the same sky, second guessing himself when he thinks that perhaps Haruka can’t see the sky from underwater. 

It’s weird, thinking how less than a week has passed since Makoto felt Haruka’s arms pulling him to safety, and yet his mind is full of the merman, unable to stop as he recalls the utter fascination on Haruka’s face when he held Makoto’s buzzing phone in his hand.  Makoto doesn’t know how he was able to spend two weeks in Tokyo taking university classes surrounded by nothing but concrete and metal, never within sight of the ocean he had always feared.  He tells himself that he still fears the ocean – that he _should_ , especially after what happened, except… knowing that Haruka is there makes the ocean a lot more welcoming than threatening.

**

Rei’s the first to pick up on the fact that something has shifted within Makoto.

“Makoto-senpai… are you okay?”

Makoto hums something vaguely interrogative in response, blithely looking up from his yakisoba as Rei worriedly catches Nagisa’s eye.

“I think Mako-chan’s in love,” Nagisa quips, leaning in close and narrowing his eyes to study Makoto, who’s suddenly begun to choke.  He smacks a hand on his back a few times, grimacing apologetically when Makoto turns to him with tears in his eyes.

“I’m not,” he wheezes.

“I don’t know,” Nagisa says.  “You looked like I hit a nerve there.”

Rei frowns across the table.  “Nagisa-kun, let it go.  He doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“But his face is going red!”

“You aren’t being a good friend.”

“Aw, Rei-chan.”  Nagisa pouts, and Rei looks away, suddenly a lot more interested in his food. 

“Rin-chan gets to make Mako-chan blush, why can’t I?” Nagisa presses, grabbing Makoto’s arm earnestly.

“Rin’s known me longer.”

“Eh?  That’s not fair!”

Makoto only shrugs, eager to have the subject dropped.  “I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is.”

**

He tries whispering Haruka’s name again when he’s in the privacy of his bed, stopping after the first two syllables and finding it just as charming as the original three.

**

He has a hard time getting away to see Haruka again for a few days, getting swept up in researching universities and helping Nagisa with his summer homework.

“Why can’t Rei help you?” he’d asked when Nagisa called, his voice tinged with hysteria as he begged for Makoto’s divine intervention.

“I can’t ask him,” he whined.  “I just can’t!”

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?”

Nagisa’s voice immediately changed.  “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

Makoto has a hard time remembering some of the material, but he helps Nagisa as best he can, apologizing whenever he draws a blank. 

“It’s fine,” Nagisa says, smiling down at his literature book and fingering the edge of the page.  “I’m just glad you agreed to help me.”

“I still don’t know why you absolutely refused to ask Rei,” Makoto grumbles.  “ _Or_ why you had to ask me now, when school’s still a month away.”

“You ask so many questions,” Nagisa moans, resting his head on his book and closing his eyes.  “Just go with the flow, Mako-chan.  Be cool about this.”

“What?  I’m cool!”

Nagisa chortles, opening an eye to watch Makoto’s flustered face.  “You aren’t cool at all.  People like you because you’re nice and helpful and polite.  And good-looking.”

“That can’t be right!”

“Oh, it is,” Nagisa promises with a grave face.   “It is _so_ true.”

“And how would you know?” Makoto asks, crossing his arms.  “You’re not even in the same year as me.”

Nagisa sits up and begins collecting his books.  “Girls in my class talk about you too, you know.  Always about how sweet Tachibana-senpai is and how great a boyfriend he’d make–” Nagisa narrows his eyes “–if he’d ever accept a confession from someone.”

“Nagisa!”

Nagisa giggles as Makoto halfheartedly swats him away.  “It’s true!  You’re notoriously virginal!”

“ _Virginal_?”

“You should see your face right now!” Nagisa hoots, falling onto his side in a heap of laughter.  “You’re so shocked!”

“W-why am I virginal?”

Nagisa wipes one of his eyes.  “Because no one has seen you out with anyone, let alone talking to anyone.  Except for Rin-chan when he visits, but they just call him ‘Tachibana’s foreign friend.’”

Makoto leans back against the couch and lets his head fall onto the cushion.  “I think I liked not knowing what people said about me more than finding out about it,” he says.  “At least then I wasn’t aware of my virginal status.”

“I dunno, some people debate your status as a virgin.”

Makoto’s head snaps up.  “What are you saying?”

Nagisa shrugs.  “There have been a few people to suggest that Rin-chan – ”

“ _No._   No, no, no, _no_ – ”

“You asked!”

“Please tell me Rin doesn’t know!”

“Well, not _yet_ – ”

“Nagisa, put that phone down right this minute!”

**

Nagisa flounces off soon after Makoto manages to wrestle the phone out of his grasp, laughing nervously when Makoto brings up his promise concerning Rei.

“I’ll tell you later,” he says as he slips his backpack on.  “I’ve gotta go!”

Makoto gapes.  “That’s hardly fair, especially after all of the stress you’ve caused today!”

“I’m sorry, Mako-chan, but my sisters are all coming home to visit and I have to help clean the house before they get here.”  Nagisa sounds apologetic, if a bit too relieved at having such a convenient excuse, so Makoto doesn’t fight it, just watches in defeat as his friend makes a dash for the exit.  He checks his watch - a new one, the same model as the one Haru had found, only green, instead of orange - when he hears Nagisa’s final farewell and the subsequent slam of the door, catching the smile that twitches across his face when he realizes he finally has time to pay the pier a visit.

**

“Your face is red,” is the first thing out of Haruka’s mouth when he surfaces, his face as inscrutable as ever.

“I – I just learned some embarrassing things from a friend,” Makoto hedges, looking down at his feet swinging over the water.  He’s seated on the end of the pier, the tips of his toes dangling half a meter above Haruka’s head.

“Was it Rin?”  He pulls himself up until he’s seated next to Makoto, who jumps as if he’s been electrocuted when the tip of Haruka’s tail brushes past his left foot.

“N-no, it wasn’t.”  Makoto smiles when Haruka turns to him with his stoic expression, feeling warm when his eyes flick over the features of his face.

“Another friend,” Haruka says, the edges of his mouth twitching with the beginnings of a frown. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Your friends aren’t nice to you.”

Makoto’s smile stretches.  “Teasing is just part of friendship.”

Haruka looks away, his voice barely more than a mumble when he says, “You humans are weird.”

Makoto laughs, the tension in his stomach from Nagisa’s revelations easing as Haruka flicks his eyes in his direction irritably.  “I guess we are, huh?”

“The shoe thing is the weirdest, though,” Haruka adds quietly.  Makoto stares at him for a moment before laughing even harder.  “What?” Haruka snaps.  “Stop laughing.”

“I’m just – remembering your other question about shoes,” Makoto giggles, clutching his stomach and feeling woozy when he remembers just what he’d thought about when Haruka had asked that question.  His laughter dies quickly then, and he’s left watching Haruka’s softening frown with his breath trapped in his lungs.

“H-hey,” he says, his heart stuttering when Haruka’s face opens up, his eyebrows shifting infinitesimally from irritated to wondering in a way not unlike the sun peeking out from behind a cloud.  “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

“Can I call you Haru?”

Haruka immediately goes back to irritated.  “Why do you want to do that?”

Makoto opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again.  “I… I just thought it’d be nice…”  He doesn’t want to explain the way saying his name makes his heart flutter into his throat, so he just smiles, tilting his head to the side.  “That’s all.”

Haruka _hmphs_.  “If you insist.”

Makoto can’t help the smile that threatens to tug his lips apart.  “Thank you.”

A cool hand on his shoulder, and then Haruka’s pressing his lips to the corner of Makoto’s mouth, disappearing with a splash before Makoto even has time to gasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a post on Tumblr about being such good friends people hear rumors about you being gay for each other, and I think I accidentally applied that to Makoto and Rin.
> 
> Also, I guess this is set just before the beginning of Makoto's third year, so there's a bit of a time jump from the show, but not a huge one!


	5. Chapter 5

Makoto stares at the water, whatever wake that had been left by Haruka long gone as the waves continue to push up against the pier’s supports.  His face is on fire, he’s sweating, his heart is racing – a laugh bubbles out of his throat, pushing up from his stomach, a mixture of hysteria and pure joy.   _Haru…_

He blinks, finally noticing the sunset before him and the way the colors have bled onto the water.  Watching the shivering palette of reds and golds, Makoto feels something tug his stomach in the direction Haruka had fled.  He absently brings his fingers to the corner of his mouth, which twitches when he remembers the salty taste of Haruka’s lips, their cool texture against his overheated blush, the soft sigh he felt against his cheek as Haruka’s nose pressed into his skin.  He remembers the way Haruka’s hand had tightened on his shoulder just before he jumped into the water, can still feel the pressure of his bones under sinew and skin.  With a sad sigh he wishes Haruka had stayed, that he had held onto him as he pulled away, bringing him back and pressing a kiss of his own –

He shakes his head, a little woozy. 

**

“Onii-cha– ”

“ _Onii-chan_!”

Makoto wobbles as Ren crawls onto his back, his hands clinging to the front of his shirt so he doesn’t slip off.

“What is it?” he asks, grabbing Ren’s forearms and tugging forward until he gets a firm enough grip.  “What can I do for you?”

“You’re acting weird!” Ran pouts, hands on her hips. 

“Yeah, you keep staring at nothing and laughing to yourself,” Ren adds, resting his chin on Makoto’s shoulder.  “What’s up with that?”

Makoto’s surprised; he hadn’t realized he’d been so obvious.  “I, ah… I don’t know.  I’m sorry if it worries you.”

“Is it because you drowned?” Ren asks quietly. 

Ran shushes him.  “Stupid!  Mom said not to bring that up!”

“But what if he’s having that post-dramatic stress disorder thing we saw on the TV last night?” Ren wails right into Makoto’s ear, and Makoto can’t help the wince that follows.  “What if onii-chan’s more upset about his drowning than he’s letting us think?”

“It’s post- _traumatic_ stress disorder,” Ran corrects; Ren simply sticks out his tongue in retaliation.  “And onii-chan doesn’t have that.  If he did, he’d have nightmares and stuff, right?” She turns to Makoto expectantly.

“Uh, I guess…” 

“And you haven’t been having nightmares, right?”  Makoto feels a surge of guilt at the way Ran looks, like she’s holding back a slew tears that’s ready to spill over at any moment.  He’s been so preoccupied with Haruka, and then the _kiss_ –

Makoto still can’t believed he _kissed_ him, still hopes for a hint of brine every time his tongue passes over that part of his mouth –

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before reaching out for his sister.  “Come here,” he says, and she’s running at him, almost knocking him and Ren over as her body collides with theirs, her tiny arms reaching as far around him as they can in as bone-crushing a hug as she can muster.

“Please say you’re okay!” she wails into his chest, and he can feel the tears soaking through the fabric of his shirt as she does her best to keep the snot at bay.  “Tell us you don’t have post-dramatic stress disorder!”

“You’re alive, you don’t need to worry about dying anymore!” Ren wails, tightening his grip on Makoto’s shoulders.  “We love you!”

Makoto can’t help the laugh that bursts out of him as Ren continues to talk him off of this metaphorical ledge, and he reaches back to put a comforting hand on his head.  He quiets.

“I’m okay,” he promises, bending down to press a kiss to the top of Ran’s head.  “I’m fine.”

Ran looks up at him with a watery face.  “R-really?”

Ren nudges Makoto’s shoulder.  “You promise?”

Makoto nods.  “I promise.”

He agrees to watch a movie with them and doesn’t say a word when they crawl right back onto him after the inevitable argument over what to watch cooled down. 

**

They keep him busy all day, never letting him out of their sight once, and he lets them get away with it.  By the time they’ve fallen asleep, they’re each clinging to one of his hands, a small puddle of drool forming on his leg as Ran uses it for a pillow.

He’s careful not to wake them up as he attempts to extricate himself from their tangled, grasping hands.  Ren mumbles something about not wanting to get on a boat, and Makoto smiles when he buries his head into the crook of Makoto’s neck as he picks him up.  He comes back for Ran, who wakes up enough to grumble about being picked up last, and Makoto simply shushes her, murmuring, “That’s because I saved the best for last.”

“Stupid,” she mumbles, sighing into Makoto’s chest and absently wrapping her arms around his neck.  He smiles.

When he finally gets around to checking his phone, he has a series of messages from Rin, all of them connected by the threat of kicking his ass if he’s at the fucking beach again.  _If I have to physically restrain you from going to that godforsaken beach when I visit I will fucking do it, don’t think I won’t_.

Well, at least he _cares_.

Makoto pockets his phone as he heads out for that exact same beach, telling his parents he’s on his way to get ice cream with Rei and Nagisa as he passes their room.  He feels a ping of guilt for lying to them as he closes the door behind him, but what else can he say?  _Mom, Dad, I’m going to visit a mermaid who I desperately want to kiss._   Right.

His stomach is in a riotous state by the time he’s sitting on the pier’s end, his hands gripping the edge tightly enough that his knuckles have gone white.  His heart picks up its pace when he thinks of what he might do when Haruka surfaces, what he might say – that is, if he can say anything at all when he’s being stared at with Haruka’s blunt intensity.  Makoto kicks his legs, biting his lip as he checks the time on his phone.  He tells himself to calm down, takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes.  Haruka will show up.  He always does.

Except he doesn’t, and Makoto finds himself laying down against the scratchy wood of the pier, pillowing his cheek against his arm and looking out to the starry horizon.  “Haru,” he whispers, as if the merman is close enough to hear him.  “Haru…”

Makoto tries to stay calm, he really does, but it’s hard when all he can feel is the pounding of his heart and all he can think is that something must have happened to Haruka, that he could be hurt, that he needs Makoto and here Makoto is, lying on his side on the verge of tears because Haruka hasn’t shown up simply by virtue of his presence alone.  His stomach twists itself into a knot when he thinks of Haruka’s lips touching his, blushing when he thinks of how badly he wanted it to happen again.  Then he’s chastising himself, thinking that if something really is wrong with Haruka, he shouldn’t be having stupid thoughts of kissing like he’s back in middle school.

He lets out a miserable groan, rolling onto his back and contemplating the sky.  It’s a cloudless night, and the stars are shining too brightly, if Makoto has anything to say about it.  He sighs, sounding pathetic even to himself, and he turns his head to watch the moonlight shiver across the water’s surface.  He should probably go home; it’s been far longer than any ice cream outing he’s ever been on, but for some reason, he can’t bring himself to get up.  It’s like there’s a rock pressing down on his chest, not exactly suffocating him, but still making it hard to breathe.  Makoto wonders if this is what heartbreak might feel like.  Or abandonment.

 _Quit being melodramatic.  You aren’t Nagisa.  Or Rin._   Makoto sighs again, checks his phone; it’s been nearly three hours.  Maybe if he waits a little longer.  Haruka could surface at any moment.

**

“Makoto.”

“H – eh…”

“Makoto.”

 _Haru?_  

Makoto opens an eye, rubbing at the other as Haruka’s shadowy face comes into focus.  “Haru!”  His eyes fly open, and he can’t help the grin that takes over his face as he sits up.  “You came,” he breathed, slightly more conscious of himself as he takes in Haruka’s barely concealed smile.

“How long were you waiting?”

Blearily, Makoto checks his phone.  “Ah…” It’s been a lot more than three hours since he left home.  “Not too long,” he lies.

He isn’t entirely sure, but he’s almost certain Haruka _snorts_.  “What?” he asks, his face heating up.

“Nothing.”

“You – I was worried that you…”  Makoto bites his tongue, looking down at his lap as his stomach flips over.  He fiddles with his phone, the weight of Haruka’s eyes on him making him sweat a little.

“It’s okay,” Haruka mumbles, and when Makoto looks up, he’s turned away.

“I’m happy to see you, though!” Makoto blurts, covering his mouth when Haruka turns back, his jaw going slack.  “I mean – that is – I wasn’t – ”

“Makoto –”

Haruka’s voice stops short, though, and Makoto freezes.  “Y-yeah?”

Haruka looks down, biting his lip and furrowing his brow.  He stays silent, as if he’s planning his words, and Makoto feels himself relaxing, sighing with an easy smile.  “Haru.”

His eyes dart up, widening in shock when Makoto gently takes his hand in his.  “It’s okay,” he says, repeating Haruka’s words.  “You don’t have to say anything.”

Haruka looks like he’s about to cry, his mouth falling open into a speechless ‘o’ as Makoto gives his fingers a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m just glad you’re here,” he admits, the back of his neck heating up when he realizes how sentimental that probably sounded.

Haruka nods before casting his eyes downward to look at their clasped hands.  Makoto’s stomach clenches when his fingers are squeezed in return, and he blushes when a light gasp escapes his mouth. 

Haruka catches his eye, as if asking whether or not he’s okay.  Makoto nods, and he huffs a quiet sigh, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

**

He’s exhausted the next day, hardly having slept by the time Ran and Ren are jumping onto his bed and asking him to take them to the aquarium.  He agrees, of course, and soon enough he’s carrying bento for all three of them as they race ahead down the stairs, Makoto calling out for them to watch their step, be careful, he doesn’t want either of them getting hurt. 

Their behavior improves by the time they’re on the train, and as they quietly bicker over who truly deserved the window seat, Makoto toys with his phone, listening to Rin’s last messages and smiling to himself when he remembers what happened when he disobeyed his ban on the beach.

**

“Makoto-senpai?”

Makoto turns around, smiling when he spots his bespectacled friend.  “Rei!”

“What are you doing here?”

Makoto laughs.  “I could ask you the same thing.”  When Rei merely quirks an eyebrow, he explains, “The twins bullied me into taking them.  But don’t tell them I said that,” he adds, looking guiltily at his siblings, who ran off to the tank with the sharks as soon as it was within sight.  “I really didn’t mind coming.”

“Why are you here, then?” Makoto asks.  “Is Nagisa here, too?”

Rei starts, looking away sheepishly.  “No, I’m here with some cousins.”

“Oh.”  Makoto wonders why Rei is suddenly studying his shoes like they’re the most interesting thing in the room before remembering Nagisa’s behavior from earlier.  “Um, Rei,” he says, his hesitant tone causing Rei to look up, “Can I… ask you something about Nagisa?”

“W-what do you mean?”  Rei looks slightly panicked, like Makoto has discovered something truly terrible about him.

“I just…” Makoto scratches the back of his neck, worried about the anxiety currently being displayed in front of him.  “I mean, the two of you… since I got back from Tokyo…”

“Since Tokyo?”  Rei frowns.  “N-nothing really happened, just…”

“Really?”  Makoto can’t help the shock seeping into his voice, remembering how Nagisa had sulked on his couch, grumbling _something_ about Rei.  “I – are you sure?”

“Why are you doubting me?” Rei snaps, his cheeks reddening as he pushes his glasses up his nose.  “I think I would know if something happened between me and Nagisa-kun!”

“So nothing happened.”

“Don’t ask me like it’s idle gossip!”

“Sorry, sorry!”  Makoto puts his hands up in surrender.  “I just want to understand!”

“Nothing happened,” Rei insists, crossing his arms and eyeing the nearest fish tank.  “I can promise you that.”

Makoto notices the way Rei’s eyebrows are twitching, as if he’s trying to keep his expression under control, and he suddenly feels as if he’s dived into water that’s too rough for him to tread. 

“Rei, do you… like Nagisa?”

“What!”  Rei all but jumps out of his skin, reaching to push his glasses up again but mashing the pads of his fingers against the glass itself instead.  “How could you – _why_ would you – as if I would _ever_ – ”

Makoto places both hands on Rei’s shoulders and steers him to the nearest bench, apologizing profusely as Rei tries to get his breathing under control.  “I don’t – he’s so – ”

“Oh, my goodness, Rei, I’m so sorry – ”

“Rei-chan!”

Rei cries out in panic, and Makoto cringes as Ran climbs onto the seat next to Rei and puts her arms around him.  “Onii-chan found Rei-chan!”

“Rei-chan?”  Ren’s running over, grinning as Rei lets out a weak, nervous laugh.

“H-hey, guys…”

“I am _so sorry_ ,” Makoto whispers, and Rei just glares at him as Ren goes on about something he learned about sharks from one of the plaques.  Makoto manages to direct them off of Rei and toward the gift shop, promising he’ll buy them each something small if they’ll give the two older boys some time to talk.  When they finally relent, Makoto falls onto the bench next to Rei and heaves a weary sigh.

“Why are _you_ the one acting so put-upon when you nearly caused me a heart attack just now?” Rei grumbles.

“Look, I’m really sorry if I embarrassed you by asking.”  Rei stares uncomfortably ahead as Makoto anxiously grips his knees.  “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.  I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, I shouldn’t distrust you like that.  You’re a good friend.”

“What – ”

“But I honestly have no idea what you think might have happened while you were in Tokyo,” Rei continues.  He sighs, picking at his nails in his lap with the utmost concentration.  “Nagisa-kun _has_ been acting strange, but I couldn’t tell you why.”

“Is it because – ”

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” Rei snaps, his face reddening again.  He adjusts his glasses, composing himself.  “I can’t help but think about it every time I see him and he just _wilts_ , and I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault, like I’ve done something wrong – ”

“I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong,” Makoto says with a gentle smile.  Rei looks up, and the hope on his face makes Makoto’s heart constrict.  “I think it’s just Nagisa being, well, _Nagisa_.”

“You mean utterly ridiculous.”

Makoto laughs.  “Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's past midnight and I feel like this could have used a bit more editing but I really wanted to get an update out so here we are friends


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it's been so long since the last update!! My computer was broken for a week and a half, and then midterms came up, but now I am back and we should be getting back to our usual schedule!

“Say, Mako-chan, if you liked someone, but weren’t sure how to confess, what would you do?”

Makoto stops in his tracks, looking down at Nagisa and frowning.  “Why are you asking me?”

He smiles sheepishly before looking away with a dejected sigh.  “You always know what to say when someone has a problem.”

“Is that why you invited me to this shopping center?”  Makoto looks around at the shops lining the street, the people milling about as Nagisa kicks at the pavement in order to avoid catching his eye.

“Maybe.”

“I thought I was too virginal?”

He scoffs.  “You don’t have to have experience to understand the theory,” he says, and he quickly straightens up, his eyes widening.  “I just sounded like Rei-chan, didn’t I?” he asks in a horrified whisper.

Makoto chuckles.  “That isn’t a bad thing.”

He moans, slumping into Makoto and clinging to his arm.  “No, it is!  It means I’m turning into an insufferable nerd like him!”

“If you insist…”  Makoto warily watches Nagisa from above as he’s dragged over to the closest store, which happens to be a pharmacy. 

“I can’t be a nerd, Mako-chan.  I’ve spent too much time building a reputation that has the perfect combination of coolness and friendly approachability.  I can’t have people think I’m weird like Rei-chan!”

Makoto frowns.  “But if you hang out with Rei anyway, wouldn’t some of whatever you think is wrong with him rub off onto you simply by association?”

“Is that why people think you’re cold and unapproachable?  Because you associate yourself with Rin?” Nagisa snaps.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Makoto asks, offended.  “Rin isn’t cold and unapproachable, and people here barely know him so I don’t see how they would think I’m like him.”

“Look at you, defending Rin-chan,” Nagisa says with a sly smile.  “Rin-chan would be so happy to see this.”

“Don’t try changing the subject,” Makoto chides as they stop in front of a display for a new brand of shampoo.  He picks up a bottle, flipping open the lid and sniffing – it’s very citrusy. 

“And anyway,” he continues, “You shouldn’t care so much about what people think of you.  Just be glad that you have a friend like Rei.  I know he’s glad to have you as his friend.”

“Wha – how do you know that?” Nagisa whirls on Makoto, his voice cracking as his eyebrows shoot up in panic.

“I just do,” Makoto says, brushing Nagisa off and moving on to look at toothpaste.  Ran had complained that she and Ren were almost out at breakfast that morning, and since he’s here, he might as well help out with some shopping.

Nagisa follows him. “Did you talk to him?”

“Of course I talk to him.”  Makoto eyes the variety of brands as he tries to envision the twins’ tube of toothpaste lying on the counter.  “I talk to him all the time.  We’re friends.”

“You know what I meant!”

Makoto turns to Nagisa with a smile.  “Do I?”

Nagisa purses his lips, looking away from Makoto to study an ad for extra-strength foot cream.  “I know you do.”

Makoto watches as he crosses his arms with a huff.  Tentatively, he asks, “Do you want to just drop it?  I’m sorry if I upset you.”

Nagisa moans, leaning his head against a nearby shelf containing mouthwash.  “Don’t be sorry, Mako-chan.  I was the one who got tetchy.”

Makoto snorts a quick laugh.  “Tetchy, huh?”  Nagisa shoots him an expression that’s as close to a scowl as he’s ever seen on his face, and he laughs in earnest.

“Go home,” Nagisa grumbles, a small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.  “You’re uninvited from this shopping center.”

“That’s too bad,” Makoto laughs as he grabs the correct box of toothpaste.  “It turns out I actually had some shopping to do.”

“You’re such a good big brother,” Nagisa sighs, following Makoto to the till.  “It makes my childhood that much more tragic, to know what I could have had.”

“Your sisters are nice enough, aren’t they?”

Nagisa snorts.  “They are _now_.”  He snatches a lollipop from the display on the counter and adds it to Makoto’s purchase, earning himself a sidelong glance.  “Pretty please?” he asks, batting his eyelashes.

Makoto gives a patient sigh.  “Fine.”

They leave the pharmacy with Nagisa twirling the lollipop inside his mouth, the hard candy clacking against his teeth in a way that makes Makoto wince. 

“Did you know that Gou-chan’s going out with a guy from that private school with the awesome swimming program?” he asks out of the blue.  “Apparently they met through Rin-chan.”

Makoto turns to him with a skeptical frown.  “How does Rin know someone from Samezuka?”

He shrugs, nonchalant.  “She said one of his friends from Australia transferred there.  Or something.  I don’t know.  She told me like, a week ago.”

“And you’re only just telling me _now_?”

He makes a face.  “Why do you care?  Are you jealous that Rin-chan has other friends?”

“Nagisa, seriously, stop that.”

He groans.  “You’re no _fun_ , Mako-chan!”

Makoto gives up, letting Nagisa chatter on about a crazy theory of his in which Makoto has been pining for Rin-chan since he left for Australia, his thoughts turning back to the off-handed mention of Gou dating someone.  Or, well, more specifically, dating.  And Haruka. 

Can Makoto even say he’s dating Haruka?  It’s not like he can tell anyone about it, but he can’t just ignore the way his neck heats up every time he remembers the kiss, or the way Haruka hadn’t shrunk away from him when he’d taken his hand in his.  He can’t help the fact that whenever Haruka enters his mind, his heart starts to beat faster and any rational thoughts seem to evaporate from his brain.  And even though it’s barely been more than a week since they met, Makoto feels as if he belongs to Haruka in some way, as if the instant those arms wrapped around his chest was the moment Makoto’s fate was decided. 

Or is he just infatuated?

He thinks of the way he catches himself looking forward to his meetings with Haruka, the way he wonders if Haruka shares the eager anticipation that sits quivering just under his ribcage.  He can’t help the way these meetings have come to feel like dates, as if he and Haruka have entered into some new dimension of being together.

He shakes his head, telling himself he’s being silly.  He’s just a curiosity to Haruka, that’s all.  A human who can satisfy whatever curiosity he has about the surface world, who can entertain him with his bumbling affection.

But then his mind jumps to the last time he saw Haruka, which had been only two days ago.  They were sitting at the end of the pier, Haruka’s tail innocently brushing against Makoto’s legs and subsequently sending his heart into a panicked overdrive.  Makoto was touting the virtues of traveling by train when he noticed Haruka wasn’t even paying attention, his eyes focused instead on something in his hands.

“What’s that?” he’d asked, leaning in closer to get a better view.  Haruka pulled it away until it was hidden behind his side.

“Nothing,” he’d mumbled, turning his head to the side haughtily.  “Keep talking about trains.”

“Okay…”  Makoto sat up straight as he tried remembering where he’d left off.  “Well, the thing about the tickets you buy is that – ”  His voice dissolved into a gasp as Haruka stiffly and suddenly held out what he’d been holding, which was an oyster.  “H-Haru…”

“Just take it.”

Makoto gently removed the oyster from Haruka’s hands, unable to keep a smile from pulling on his mouth as he ran a thumb over the rough surface of its shell.  “Haru, I don’t know what to say – ”

Haruka let out a frustrated sigh, and Makoto could see his fingers twitch in his lap.  “Just open it already – ”

Makoto nearly choked as tears stupidly sprung to his eyes as they took in the pearl nestled within the oyster’s interior.

Haruka _hmph-_ ed, and when Makoto turned to thank him he was hiding his face by looking down at the water on his side, the tips of his ears glowing in the late afternoon sun.

“Thank you, Haru,” he murmured anyway, closing the oyster and holding it close to his stomach.  “It’s beautiful.”

Haruka didn’t say anything in response, but Makoto could tell by the way his shoulders shifted that Makoto’s words had meant a lot.

And the pearl meant a lot to Makoto.  It was so much more precious than the watch Haruka had returned, and Makoto had wrapped it in tissue paper before placing it in the back of his desk drawer, only to be taken out and fawned over at least five times since he’d staggered back from the beach with a wistful smile stuck on his face.

But does that really mean he and Haruka are something more than, well, whatever they’d started out as?  What _had_ they started out as?  Were they anything at all?  Is Makoto assuming too much?  Or could Haruka –

“Earth to Mako-chan!”

Makoto blinks the thoughts of Haruka away as Nagisa peers into his face, his own scrunched up in a way that makes Makoto worry he’s been spacing out for too long.

“You okay there?”

“W-why wouldn’t I be?”

“You got really quiet all of a sudden, and then when I looked over you were smiling to yourself and blushing.”

“What?!”  Makoto looks at Nagisa in horror, his face heating up as Nagisa lets out an ungraceful snort.

“Mako-chan’s so cute,” he laughs. 

“Um.  Thank you.”  Makoto shoots Nagisa an uneasy look before suggesting they go to a bookstore that had just opened a week ago.  Nagisa agrees enthusiastically, taking Makoto’s hand in his and dragging him down the walkway before he even has a chance to protest.

**

The twins are pleased when Makoto pulls their toothpaste out of his bag, jumping onto him with delighted peals of laughter as he settles on the couch after coming home. 

“Can we go to the beach again tomorrow, onii-chan?” Ran asks with a bat of her eyelashes that bears a frightening resemblance to Nagisa.

“We just went the other day,” Makoto protests while an explosion sounds from the TV.  “Can’t you wait?”

“What’s the point of living next to the beach if we can’t go whenever we want?” she whines, pulling on his arm. 

“Yeah, onii-chan, what’s the point?”  Ren parrots, preventing Makoto from leaving by sprawling out across his lap.  “It’ll be fun!  You and Ran can bury me in the sand again.”

Ran cheers, but Makoto frowns.  “You got sick last time we did that.”

Ren scoffs.  “I’m more of a man now, it’ll be fine.”

“ _Please_ , onii-chan?” Ran begs as she lies down on top of Ren, much to the latter’s protest.  “Please please please please _pleeease_?”

“Please!” Ren adds.

Makoto knew he’d be defeated as soon as the question was posed.  He’d just hoped he might finally be able to put a day aside for his summer homework, and he _knows_ neither of the twins has started theirs.  “Okay,” he relents.  “We’ll go after breakfast.  I’ll pack us lunches.”

They’re still cheering when Makoto’s phone starts buzzing in his pocket, and when he fishes it out, he isn’t surprised to see the picture of Rin sporting Ran’s barrettes in his hair he’d set as his contact icon glowing on the screen.

“You’ve been quiet these last few days,” he says as soon as he accepts the call, jumping in before Rin can steamroll him with whatever rant he’d had planned.  “Don’t tell me you’re done worrying about my general health and safety.”

“Fuck you.”

“There are actually children around me this time,” Makoto chides.  “Watch your mouth.”

“I just – ”

“Is that Rin-chan?”  Ran’s propped herself up on Makoto’s lap, staring intently on his phone.  “Let me say hi.”

“In a minute, he just called – ”

“Rin-chan’s calling?”  Ren’s head pops up from where he’d rolled onto the floor, his eyes lit up.  “I wanna talk!”

“Guys, please, just _ten minutes_ – ”

“Oh, give up, Mako, you know you’re gonna lose.”

Makoto can hear the smile in Rin’s voice, and he sighs in resignation.  “This is only because  you’re vain and thrive on their attention,” he says, and before Rin can retaliate he hands the phone to Ran, who leaps off of the couch and runs into the dining room before Ren has a chance to steal it from her.

“Not fair!” he calls out, scrambling after her as Makoto lays down, his head on the armrest as he watches the anime the twins left on the TV.  He can hear them squabbling, half of his mind wondering if he should get up and intervene before one of them – probably Ren, knowing the way Ran has always been able to boss him around – bursts into tears, but as soon as he starts to sit up, he hears his mother suggest they switch to speakerphone so they can both talk to Rin-kun at the same time.  He relaxes with a grateful sigh.

“Thank you,” he whispers when she comes up to the back of the couch, smiling down at him beatifically.

“Long day?” she asks, reaching down to smooth his bangs off of his forehead.

He makes a noncommittal noise.  “Not really.  Just tired.”

She nods in understanding.  “Go to bed early tonight, then.  You just got over that last cold.”

“Okay,” he mumbles with a smile.

“Dinner’s in about thirty minutes,” she adds, giving him a final pat on the head before turning back for the kitchen.

Makoto closes his eyes, shifting his hips to get more comfortable and wondering if he really should follow his mother’s advice.  He’d been planning on getting away to visit Haruka later that evening, but if he’s going there tomorrow, he doesn’t see why he should exacerbate everyone’s worry for him if he does indeed get sick again.

The twins return with Makoto’s phone a few minutes later, yelling their goodbyes along with Rin, who obviously took more delight from this conversation than he’ll ever let on. 

“Having fun?” Makoto asks once he’s turned speakerphone off, leaving the couch and the twins for the back porch.

“Shut up,” comes Rin’s grumble, and Makoto laughs.  “It makes me miss Gou, that’s all.”

“Gou’s only a year younger than you, though.”

“That doesn’t matter!”

“Okay, okay, don’t get tetchy,” Makoto says, smiling when he thinks of Nagisa’s almost-scowl.

“Who the fuck says tetchy anymore?”

“You know who.”

Rin groans. 

“So why are you calling?” Makoto asks, sitting down as one of the shrine cats detaches itself from a nearby bush.   He stretches a hand out to it, wiggling his fingers when it hesitates.

“Why can’t I call my best friend without some kind of ulterior motive?” Rin complains, sighing as something that sounds like rustling blankets comes over the line – he must be lying down on his bed.

“Because that’s not how you operate.”

Rin sighs again, heavier this time.  “Fine.  Are you doing okay?”

Makoto starts.  He hadn’t been expecting that.  “I – yeah?  I’m doing fine.”

“You don’t sound sick anymore.”

“I got over it a few days ago.”

“You still sound tired as hell, though.  What the fuck are you doing to yourself?”

“You worry worse than my mother,” Makoto whines, scratching behind the cat’s ears.  “It’s weird.  Stop it.”

“It’s all because – ”

“Don’t you dare – ”

“ – fucking Tokyo, man!  Who the fuck even _takes_ university classes before they’re done with high school?”

Makoto sits up, temporarily forgetting the cat as he primly says, “Just so you know, it was a special opportunity and only five students from Iwatobi got to go.  It’ll look really good on my applications, and if I do decide to go to the one in Tokyo, I got to meet some important people and I’ll have a really good chance of getting in as long as my exam scores are good enough.”

“Maybe,” Rin says, already sounding unsure of himself but stubbornly continuing regardless, “But you killed yourself getting into that program, and then you killed yourself participating in that program, and then you actually managed to almost kill yourself when you got back from that program.  Don’t tell me it’s not the fucking program.”

“My drowning has nothing to do with Tokyo,” Makoto grumbles, returning his attention to the cat.

“It totally does!  What were you doing when you drowned?  Oh, I don’t know, maybe trying to get back into shape after _spending two weeks doing nothing but studying in Tokyo_!”

“Calm down,” Makoto says, holding up a placating hand even though Rin can’t see it.  “Take a deep breath.”

Rin starts to bite something out but catches himself, going quiet for a few seconds.  “Fine.”

“We have a little more than a week before you fly over here,” Makoto says.  “Just sit tight until then.”

“If I punch you as soon as I see you don’t say it went undeserved,” Rin grumbles.

“Please don’t do that.”

“I’m not saying I won’t.”

Makoto sighs, turning his attention to the noises coming from the house behind him.  “I should go,” he says.  “Mom probably wants me to set the table for her.”

“Tell your mom I say hi.”

He smiles.  “I will.”

When he hangs up, the cat’s disappeared, and Makoto takes a moment to look out at the darkening ocean before the twins burst out of the back door, telling him he’s needed by their mother.

**

The next day arrives overcast with an onslaught of heat and humidity, and Makoto asks himself if it’s a good idea to go to the beach with such oppressive weather as he follows the twins down the shrine steps, their bento bundled up in his arms.

“Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg!” Ran shrieks, tearing down the steps in a way that makes Makoto call after her in a panic, imagining all too vividly what might happen if she slipped. 

“ _I’m_ being good, though, right?” Ren asks with a hopeful smile.

“Of course you are,” he says, rewarding him with a smile of his own.

“Come _on_!” comes Ran’s voice from the bottom of the steps as she impatiently waves them down.  “We haven’t got all day!”

Makoto sighs, wondering if he shouldn’t have let her talk to Rin the night before after all.

The beach isn’t crowded at all when they get there, but Makoto still manages to nearly lose Ran when she runs ahead to stake out a spot.  Ren sticks close by, determined to show Makoto that he’s the better sibling while still twitching to run after his sister, which Makoto appreciates.

The spot Ran selects is actually pretty good, and Makoto grudgingly admits that she did an admirable job.  He tells her not to let it get to her head, though, watching the way she starts to strut as soon as he gave her his praise.  “It’s not nice to be mean and rub your accomplishments in other people’s faces,” he explains when she protests with a pout.

“I’m not smug,” she grumbles, and Makoto wonders where she’d learned that word.

Ren starts tugging on his arm, then, though, begging to be buried again.  “Can we do it later?” Makoto asks.  “When the sun is lower in the sky.  I don’t want you getting too terribly sunburnt.”

They ask for ice cream in the mean time, and Makoto agrees to that, telling them to stay put as he hurries off to the convenience store on the road.  “I’ll just be ten or fifteen minutes, okay?” he says, looking back a few times to make sure they don’t go running off as soon as his back is turned.

On the way back he worries about how much the ice creams will have melted by the time he reaches the twins, but all of those thoughts fly from his mind the moment he spots their towels lying abandoned on the sand.   


	7. Chapter 7

The ice creams fall to the sand, completely forgotten as Makoto takes off, running toward the pier with the hope that Ren might have wanted to check out some fishing gear rentals and dragged Ran with him so Makoto would be less harsh in his chastisement.  He’s yelling their names as loud as he can, his rough shouts scraping his throat raw, his lungs trying to keep up as he pushes himself over the sand, his heart in his mouth and his legs burning, his feet aching as they pound the packed earth, his chest constricting with fear.  He keeps pushing, though, tears springing to his eyes when the pier gets larger and the twins still don’t appear, the rush of the waves growing louder in his ears, tendrils of the tide brushing against his feet, trying to get a grip as he sprints, trying to take him away as it did the last time, as it may have done with the twins.

 _No, they’re at the pier, they just thought they’d be back before me_ –

 _It was probably Ran’s idea, she’s gotten so bossy lately_ –

He finds himself cursing the emptiness of the beach, cursing the unbearable heat as he feels sweat running down his back as he continues to push himself forward, his lungs feeling like they’re about to collapse as he nears the pier. 

“RAN!” he yells.  “REN!”

“Onii-chan!”

He trips, landing hard on his knees and earning himself a mouthful of sand, but he doesn’t care because the twins are running up to him, grinning from ear to ear and Makoto’s heart is still trying to beat its way out of his chest but he’s so relieved it’s like heavy stone has been lifted off of his back.  He sits up and puts an arm around each of them, hugging them tightly and only just noticing the tears wetting his cheeks.  “Thank God,” he mumbles, his voice cracking with emotion.  “Thank _God_.”

“Onii-chan isn’t mad?” Ren asks, his brows furrowed together in confusion when Makoto finally pulls away from their shoulders.

“Of course I’m mad,” Makoto laughs, still crying despite himself.  “I’m furious!  The two of you practically gave me a heart attack!”

“We’re really sorry,” Ran mumbles, joining Ren in his confusion as Makoto hugs them again.  “We just – ”

“Makoto.”

He jumps at that voice, his heart rate skyrocketing when he looks behind the twins to see Haruka with an almost apologetic look on his face.  “Haru!”

“ _That’s_ his name?” Ran asks incredulously.  “He wouldn’t tell us!”

“What – were you – ”

“Ren thought he saw something weird over here and so we wanted to check it out,” Ran explains.

“We thought it would end up being something lame so we figured we’d be back before you returned,” Ren adds.

“But then it was a _mermaid_!”  Makoto’s mouth is still hanging open in shock when he turns back to his sister, but the way her eyes have lit up is enough to make him close it.  “Why didn’t you _tell_ us you know a mermaid!”

“He’s a mer _man_ ,” Ren corrects.  “Get it right.”

“Haru-chan’s not a man yet,” Ran scoffs.  “He’s hardly older than onii-chan.”

“What?”

“Haru-chan?”

Makoto’s attention snaps to Haruka, expecting to see his nose wrinkled in displeasure.  He’s surprised, though, when all he finds is a thoughtful expression.  “Haru…”

Haruka’s eyes meet his.  “Yes?”

Makoto blushes, averting his eyes and breathing a laugh and not knowing why.  “Sorry, I just – I don’t know – ”

He hears a soft exhale that could almost be described as a laugh.  He looks up, catching the twitch of Haruka’s mouth into a ghost of a smile before it gets suppressed.

He doesn’t get a chance to say anything before the twins are back in full force, planting themselves in front of Haruka and effectively blocking Makoto out.

“Did you save onii-chan’s life?” Ren asks, his eyes wide as Haruka narrows his.

“Ren, don’t – ”

“I did.”

“Haru!”

“Whoa!”  Ren and Ran look at each other with mirrored grins.  Ran returns to Haruka first, asking, “Is it because you love onii-chan?”

Makoto gathers the twins up then, laughing the question off as his ears burn.  “We should really go back to our stuff.  Even though it isn’t crowded someone could still take something.”

“Aw, that’s no fun!” Ran pouts, crossing her arms.  “I want to know Haru-chan’s answer!”

“Me too!” Ren pipes up.

Makoto sighs, deciding to change his tactics.  He gets down on one knee, putting a hand on each of their shoulders.  “How about you guys go on ahead, and I’ll get Haru’s answer for you.”  Before they can protest, he whispers, “Can’t you see he’s a little embarrassed?”  All three of them turn to Haruka then, observing the way he’s studying the sand under his fingernails with the utmost concentration.  “Haru’s shy,” Makoto explains in a low voice.

The twins make small noises of understanding, Ran nodding her head sagely.  “That makes sense.”

Makoto smiles.  “I dropped your ice creams when I ran over to find you, so,” he says, digging into his pocket, “Why don’t you two go get new ones?”

They readily agree, and Makoto breathes a happy sigh of relief as they run off, but not before making Haruka promise them he’ll come around again.  “We barely got past introductions!” Ran protests when Makoto tries to dissuade them.  “We never even got to the tough questions!”

Makoto apologizes when they finally scamper away, Ren calling out to Ran to slow down so he can keep up.  “Don’t,” Haruka mumbles with a shake of his head.  “It was nice, meeting them.”

“Why did you show yourself to them?” Makoto asks, bringing his knees up to his chest and looking down at his lap.  He can’t help the way his heart has been sinking in his chest ever since he discovered Haruka with the twins, as if it were lamenting the loss of his status as Haruka’s sole human companion.  He knows he’s sulking, and he knows Haruka can probably see right through him, but it’s all he can do not to let out a small and pathetic noise.

“I thought it was you,” Haruka explains.  “I saw you with them, and then I heard footsteps approaching, and by the time I heard their voices they’d already spotted me.”

Makoto purses his lips.  “You could’ve dived into the water and swum away.”

“I thought it would be nice to speak to people close to Makoto.”

He looks up at that, face falling slack in wonder.  “Huh?”

Haruka casts his eyes aside with a frown, and Makoto’s heart skips a beat.  “I just thought it might be interesting.  I don’t know.”

A smile breaks out over Makoto’s face.  “Haru, have I ever mentioned how cute you are?”

Haruka’s head snaps up, his cheeks flushing with color as his mouth opens in a surprised ‘o’.  When Makoto finally realizes what he’s said, he blushes as well, internally berating himself for saying something so stupid.  “I – I meant – ”  He closes his mouth, searching the sand for an answer and not finding anything.  “I don’t know what I meant,” he admits.  “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”  Haruka has his head tucked into his chest when Makoto looks up, hiding his face in what Makoto hopes is an attempt to hide a smile.  It makes Makoto want to reach out and gently lift his chin, smiling softly as he leans in to press a light kiss on the corner of his mouth, just as Haruka had done to him on the pier.  But he keeps his hand on his knee, the twitching of his fingers the only sign that he’d thought of doing something so horribly clichéd.

“I should probably get back,” he says, immediately regretting his words when Haruka lets out a small, petulant sigh.  “U-unless,” he stammers, “I mean – if you want – ”

“No,” Haruka says, looking off to the side.  “Go back to your siblings.  They need you.”

“I – are you sure?”

Haruka briefly peeks over at Makoto before turning away.  “Of course.”

Makoto notices the pink dusting his cheeks, and before his brain can catch up with his body he’s moving onto his knees and clumsily kissing Haruka, his heart leaping when he feels the surprised intake of air as Haruka stiffens beneath his hand.

Makoto pulls away first, murmuring, “I’ll see you later” as he stands up.  Haru doesn’t move, rooted by shock, his face filling with color as Makoto walks away.

**

“What if he’s from Atlantis?”

“Atlantis doesn’t exist, stupid!”

“How do you know?  Mermaids exist, why can’t Atlantis?”

“Because it doesn’t, that’s why!”

“Ran, don’t hit your brother like that!”  Makoto relaxes, relieved when she mutters an apology, but the tension comes back in full force when she turns on him.

“Why won’t you tell us what Haru-chan said?” she asks, her voice far too accusatory than Makoto thinks it should be.

“H-he asked me to keep it a secret,” Makoto hedges, holding his hands up in placating gesture.  “Like I said, he’s very private.”

Ran crosses her arms and narrows her eyes.  “You said he was _shy_.” 

“Well, he’s both.”  Since when has she been so nit-picky about these things?

“I think it’s obvious what his answer was,” Ren says.

Ran turns on him.  “What, then?”

“He loves onii-chan.”  Ren smiles sagely as he speaks, looking far too wise for his age if Makoto has anything to say about it.  “You could see it on his face when we asked him.”

Ren’s words are a punch in Makoto’s gut, his lungs freezing up as his stomach feels like it’s collapsing. 

Ran lets out a triumphant laugh that makes Makoto flinch.  “I knew it!” she crows, hopping around their towels in her own version of a victory lap.  “I knew it!”

Ren frowns. “ _I’m_ the one who figured it out!”

Ran stops, putting a thoughtful hand on her chin.  “I wonder how it happened.”

“Did he spy on us?” Ren suggests.

She shakes her head.  “He must have watched, but I don’t think you can call it spying.”

“Observation?”

“That’s too science-y,” she moans.

And so Makoto watches, utterly helpless, as the twins go back and forth, mapping out the trajectory of his love story with the mermaid Haruka.

“I’ve got it!” Ren says, slapping a fist into the palm of his other hand.  “Haru-chan’s just like the little mermaid!”

Ran gasps.  “That is _perfect_!”

“Guys, hold on a second – ”

“That means Haru-chan’s going to get legs at some point!”

“But that means he’ll have to visit a sea witch, and Haru-chan will lose his voice!”

“You’re just repeating the plot of a movie!” Makoto groans, but neither of the twins hear him, each of them getting louder to be heard over the other until it’s nothing more than a shouting match, and Makoto is instantly glad for the overcast sky keeping the majority of the town from deciding to enjoy the beach that day.

“Do you think Haru-chan has a pretty singing voice?”

“Is that how he woke you up, onii-chan?”

“No, he didn’t _sing_ – he didn’t even do anything, I just woke up!”

“That’s so lame, though!”

“I’m sorry I don’t have a say in how things happen,” Makoto says loftily.

“If Nagisa-chan were here, he’d get to the bottom of it,” Ran says.

“Nagisa doesn’t need to know about this,” Makoto counters seriously.  “And neither can your own friends, and neither Mom and Dad.  _Especially_ not Mom and Dad.”

“Why not?” asks Ren.

“Yeah, why?” asks Ran.

Makoto gives them a patient smile.  “Because they don’t know that mermaids exist.  And if everyone found out about Haru, he might get taken away from us.”  Makoto’s thought long and hard about this since that first day, when he considered explaining what actually happened after being asked so many times. 

“You mean like, to be dissected?” Ran asks, horrified.

Makoto grimaces.  He hadn’t considered _that_.  “No, I was imagining something more like people putting him in an aquarium.”

She scoffs.  “That isn’t very imaginative.”

“Just promise me,” Makoto says, bracing his hands on her shoulders.  “Please.”

She purses her lips, considering.  “Fine,” is her eventual answer.  “But that means we get to see Haru-chan again soon.  Otherwise it’s no deal.”

Makoto leans back, impressed by his sister’s tenacity. 

“Let’s go find Haru-chan now!” Ren says, jumping on Makoto’s back. 

“Haru-chan’s probably gone back out to deeper water by now,” Makoto says, rocking backward and forward as Ren holds on, giggling into his ear.  “We’ll see him again another time.”

“You promise?”

Makoto smiles, wondering if Haru might be watching from the waves right now.  “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm.... I wonder just how accurate the twins' predictions are?


	8. Chapter 8

A massive storm system moves in that evening, and Makoto tries to fall asleep to the sound of rain pelting the window above his bed and thunder rumbling through the walls of his house.  He’s unable to shake lingering thoughts of Haru’s relative safety within what he can only expect are rough waters, wondering just how deep he would have to go to escape the ferocious tossing and turning of the waves.  He sits up when it occurs to him that he doesn’t even know if Haru can breathe under water. _Can he?_

Makoto resists the urge to grab an umbrella and reassure himself by actually finding Haru living and breathing, telling himself that Haru has survived countless storms before this one.  He _was_ alive before he met Makoto, of course.  He’s been doing just fine without Makoto for however many years he’s been around.

Which makes Makoto wonder how old Haru could be.  Do mermaids age as humans do?  Do they live longer?  Is Haru immortal?

 _Stop that_ , he chides himself, rolling onto his side and tugging the blankets up to his chin.  _That’s stupid_.

He squashes whatever thoughts he’d had of Haru and growing old together, telling himself it’s ridiculous to think that could ever happen between them. 

_For one thing, we would never be able to live together –_

Makoto groans and rolls onto his back, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes and heaving a weary sigh.  “ _Stop_ ,” he moans out loud, moving his hands when another roll of thunder sets the window pane rattling.  They flop down onto the blankets with a muffled _thud_ as Makoto takes a deep breath.  He takes another for good measure, studying the gloomy ceiling as it’s illuminated by a flash of lightning. 

 _Haru will be fine,_ he tells himself.  He rolls back onto his side, sighing into the pillow and focusing on the whispered staccato of the rain.  _It’s just rain._

**

The downpour has softened into a light drizzle by the time Makoto walks into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand as he musses Ren’s hair with the other.

“Eh, what about me?” Ran pouts, and Makoto smiles, reaching over their brother to give her head a quick pat.

“Mom made miso soup, look,” Ren says, lifting up his bowl as evidence.  “Do you want some?”  He puts the bowl down and braces his hands against the table.  “I can get it for you!”

Makoto puts a staying hand on the back of Ren’s chair.  “I can help myself, but thank you very much.”

“Does Haru-chan have miso soup for breakfast?” Ran asks.

Makoto jumps, snapping his head around to see if his mother is within earshot, relieved when she isn’t.  “Don’t bring Haru up when Mom might hear,” he whispers.

They nod their heads, their faces set in determined frowns.  “Your secret is safe with us!”

Somehow, Makoto still isn’t reassured, but he sits down with his breakfast and glances at the window, part of him wishing the rain would stop so he could check on Haru.  He quickly shoves those thoughts aside, though, shoving some rice into his mouth and listening to the twins bicker over who should get up to get second servings for the two of them.

“I’m a girl, I shouldn’t have to get up,” says Ran.

“But girls do all the housework!  I’m a man, you need to take care of me,” says Ren.

Ran snaps, “That’s crap!”  She crosses her arms, haughtily closing her eyes and adding, “This is the twenty-first century, women and men are equals.”

“But I got us food before!  It’s only fair!” Ren whines.

“That’s such a lie, _Mom_ got it for us – ”

Makoto swallows the last of his rice before getting up.  “That’s enough, I’ll get more for all three of us.”

Both of them beam up at him.  “Thanks, onii-chan!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, smiling nonetheless as Ren gives Ran a playful nudge.

**

It’s still raining several hours later, and Makoto’s leg won’t stop jittering as he begins his third round of Mario Party with the twins.  _How can it last this long?_ he thinks as Ran issues the command that they all pick different players.  Makoto doesn’t listen as Ren protests her unfair monopolizing of all of his favorite characters, heaving a tired sigh and resting his head in his hand as he watches the rain drops splatter on the windowsill.

“Onii-chan, are you okay?” Ran asks, and when Makoto turns to her she has Ren draped over her shoulder, the two of them frozen mid-tussle.

Ren has to bend his neck to see Makoto, his eyes round and concerned when he says, “You look sad.”

“Is it Haru-chan?”

“Are you worried about him because of the storm?”

“Do you miss him?”

“Are you worried he got hurt?”

“I’m not worried,” he gripes, even though it’s a lie and he knows the twins can see right through it.  “I’m just… tired of playing Mario Party,” he finishes weakly.

Neither Ran or Ren blink as Ran says, “That is such a big fat lie.”

“Should we help him?” Ren asks, sliding off of Ran and sitting back on his heels.  “We can ask him to take us somewhere and Mom will let us go.”

“Mom won’t let us go out in the rain, stupid!”

“It was just a suggestion!”

“Guys, guys, it’s okay,” Makoto says, quickly pulling Ran into his lap before she has a chance to properly push Ren over.  “You don’t need to be lying to Mom.  It’s a bad thing to do.”

“Are you saying we should tell her?” Ren asks, his jaw dropping incredulously.

“What?  No!”  Makoto nearly drops Ran as he waves his hands in some attempt to stop Ren’s train of thought.  “I meant you shouldn’t pick up a bad habit like that.”

“But don’t you want to see Haru-chan?” Ran asks, turning in his lap to face him.

Makoto gives her a gentle smile.  “I can’t just force my presence on Haru whenever I want.  He has his own life.”

Ran and Ren look at each other.  “He didn’t seem to mind,” she says.

“W-what?”

She rolls her eyes.  “If you’re not aware of it, I’m not gonna tell you,” she says.  “Stupid.”

Makoto splutters, “You can’t just bring it up like that and not tell me!”

“Not gonna,” she sing-songs.  Ren giggles.

Makoto leans back into the couch.  “You’re impossible,” he groans.

Ran scoffs, but soon settles into Makoto while ordering Ran to fetch her controller for her.  Makoto tries to stop her, telling Ren that he doesn’t need to do it, but he’s ultimately powerless under her weight as Ren resentfully tosses the controller, hitting her leg in the process.  She aims a kick at him, which he counters with a tug, and before Makoto can gain control of the situation they’re laughing as they wrestle in front of the TV.  Makoto gives up as Ren’s delighted shrieks pierce the peaceful house, turning to the window with a wistful sigh.

**

Somehow – Makoto doesn’t know how – he manages to make it to dinner.  His mother still notices his melancholy, though, joking, “The rain today certainly affected you, didn’t it?”

He simply shrugs.  “It’s just one of those days.”

“The sun will come out tomorrow,” she promises, smiling gently before Ren pipes up with news about baby whales at the aquarium.

“They just started letting people see them!” he says before turning to Makoto with big eyes.  “Can we go, onii-chan?”

“Later,” Makoto promises. 

It isn’t until he’s helping his mother with the dishes that he realizes the weather has cleared up, and despite the still-gloomy sky a triumphant smile spreads across his face.

“What is it?” his mother asks, mouth quirked with amusement.

Makoto starts, nervously swallowing as his mind races for an excuse.  “I was just… I’ve been restless all day, and now I have time for a walk.  Or something.”

She nods.  “Uh huh.”

Makoto’s heart falters for a split second as his stomach plummets.  “Why do you sound like you don’t believe me?”

“I do believe you,” she says, reaching up to pat his cheek.  “You’re flighty tonight, though, aren’t you?”

Makoto laughs, and he cringes internally when he hears the blatant nerves in his voice.  “I’ve just been cooped up in the house all day.  I need fresh air.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she says with a firm nod and a smile.  She lightly taps his chest.  “Why don’t you go now, while it’s still light out?”

“But the – ”

She waves a dismissive hand, flashing him a conspiratorial smile.  “It’s about time the twins learned a new chore.” 

Makoto laughs.  “Okay.”

“Be back before nine!” she calls after him.

“Okay!”

His heart feels fit to burst as he flies down the shrine steps, unable to stop an excited laugh from bubbling up and out of his chest.  Even though he’s practically running, it still feels like it takes forever for him to reach the pier.  He stops at the end of it, out of breath as he looks around for a pair of eyes peeking over the crests of the waves.

“Haru?” he calls, too eager to think of passerby.

Nothing happens, the quiet rush of the surf the only response he gets.

He considers sitting down and waiting patiently, but the nine o’clock deadline has his mind racing, the desire to see Haru turning into something that feels more akin to a need, but Makoto tells himself that that’s ridiculous, he doesn’t _need_ to see Haru, he’s just anxious because it’s been a while.

He moves down to the sand then, pacing back and forth as he decides which way to go.  He wanders over to the area beneath the pier, wondering if Haru might see him better closer to the water’s surface.

Something rustles behind him, and Makoto seizes up, a tiny, unmanly squeak escaping him.  He stays still, afraid of drawing the attention of whatever it was, afraid to turn around in case it’s something truly horrifying.  There’s a soft sweeping sound, almost like a slither, and Makoto can’t help the wimper that comes out of his throat as goose bumps erupt all over his arms despite the humidity.

Could it be a sea monster?  Did those exist?  If mermaids existed, then surely other myths could be true –

“Makoto.”

Makoto shrieks, whirling around as Haru suddenly appears behind a stack of abandoned crates. 

“W-what are you doing behind there?” he stammers, cringing at the way his voice wavers.

That’s when Haru falls over, and Makoto notices his cheeks flushed under a sheen of sweat.  It makes his heart lurch and his mouth go dry as he hurries over, nearly falling over himself in his haste to reach him.

“Haru, what’s happened to you?” he cries, taking in his bedraggled appearance as well as the blood seeping into the wet sand.  His hand goes to the hook lodged in Haru’s dorsal fin, some of the congealed blood flaking off, the smooth skin feverish to the touch.  Silently, Haru takes Makoto’s hand in his, guiding it to one of his pectoral fins, which has something like fishing line wrapped far too tightly around it, and from the way it’s turned a slightly darker shade than the rest of his body, it’s cutting off circulation.  Makoto’s other hand hovers helplessly over the deep scores criss-crossing his body, showing up in angry red on his chest and arms and eerily white on his tail.

“What _happened_?” Makoto repeats, his voice cracking as Haru’s lidded eyes meet his.

“An accident.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Haru grits his teeth, trying to sit up again, but Makoto puts a gentle yet restraining hand on his shoulder.  “You shouldn’t exert yourself,” he murmurs.  He settles down next to Haru, pulling him up until he’s leaning against his side and putting an arm around his shoulder, mindless of whatever blood or grime might be getting on his clothes.

“What happened?” he asks.

Haru shifts, grunting as something that probably shouldn’t be moved gets moved.  “I was swimming near the surface this morning when a fishing boat came by, and I got tangled in the net,” he explains. 

Makoto waits for him to continue, but when he stays silent he says, “This looks really bad for just getting tangled in a net.”

“You try untangling yourself when you’re moving too fast and getting hit by fish,” Haru grumbles.  “It’s not like I wasn’t trying to escape.”

“I’m sorry.”  Without thinking, Makoto presses a quick kiss to the top of Haru’s head.  He stiffens, and Makoto clears his throat, stumbling over his words as he hurries to say, “B-but is there anything you n-need me to do for you?  Do you want me to go back to my house and get some first aid stuff?  I’ll be really quick – ”

“No.”  Haru grabs Makoto’s hand on his shoulder, gripping it tight and pulling him closer.  “Stay.”

“Are you su – ”

“Don’t leave me.”  There’s panic in Haru’s voice, a raw fear that makes Makoto’s heart constrict with the realization that he isn’t as calm as he’s trying to appear. 

Makoto leans back against the crates without a word as Haru lays his head on his shoulder, his skin clammy even though the fabric of Makoto’s T-shirt.  Makoto can hear the raspy breaths wheezing their way out of his throat, and with a twist in his gut he fishes the phone from his pocket, remembering what he’d told the twins about lying to their parents.

_Hey mom, I just ran into Nagisa at the train station, and_  
 _he’s invited me to a movie so I won’t be able to come home at 9._  
 _I’m sorry and I love you_

He sighs regretfully as he rests the phone on his leg, turning to Haru, whose eyes are closed, almost as if he’d fallen asleep.  “Haru?” he whispers, nudging him with his shoulder.  “Haru.”

Haru’s eyebrows knit together.  “Stop.”

“Shouldn’t I help you?” Makoto asks.  “You know, with your injuries?”

He frowns, muttering something that sounds like “Too messy.”

“Your fin looks like it’s losing circulation.”

“Later.”

“Haru!”

“I said later!”  he snaps, opening his eyes and looking up at Makoto.  “Do you even have anything to cut through the line?”  When Makoto only shrugs helplessly, Haru puts his head back down.  “Thought so.”

“Could I at least take you somewhere safe?”

“In broad daylight.”

Makoto goes quiet.  “We’ll wait, then.”

Haru takes his hand in both of his, examining his fingers as he mumbles, “Tell me more human things while we wait.”

“Aren’t you in pain?”

Haru lets out an annoyed huff.  “Of course I am.”

“Then shouldn’t I do something?” Makoto cries.

“I’ll be fine just holding your hand,” Haru mutters, keeping his eyes trained down as Makoto wordlessly opens his mouth.  “Just distract me with human stuff.”

“H-Haru…”

“Just do it.”  His grip on Makoto’s hand tightens, the flukes of his tail twitching irritably as Makoto swallows, searching for a place to start.  “Talk about shoes again, I don’t care.”

“Sh-shoes?”

“Shoes.”

“Shoes,” Makoto repeats, and he earns himself a sidelong glare from Haru.  “W-well, they go on your feet – well, not _your_ feet, but my feet, for example, and…”

Haru settles onto Makoto, his head returning to his shoulder and his eyes closing as Makoto struggles to keep his mind on something as inane as shoes when all he can think about is how painful the scratches marring Haru’s body must be.  He forces himself to keep talking, though, and the sun steadily goes down as he moves from shoes to festivals to the postal system, Haru interrupting with the occasional question.

About an hour after sunset Makoto goes quiet, surprised and a little offended when he realizes Haru’s fallen asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

“Where are you taking me?”

“Just a little further.”

Haru huffs impatiently as he tightens his grip around Makoto’s neck.  “I didn’t ask how much farther we had to go, I asked where we’re going,” he grumbles, his warm breath on Makoto’s shoulder causing goose bumps to break out along Makoto’s arms.

Makoto adjusts his grip for what feels like the fiftieth time, unable to shake the feeling that Haru’s tail will somehow slip out of his arms if he isn’t careful.  “Just a little longer,” he says, smiling to himself when Haru gives another irritated snort.

They’re approaching the stairs that lead up from the beach to the street, the roof of the school peeking out over the ledge.  Makoto sighs, relieved that a mile or so of walking is about to come to an end.  Haru’s a lot heavier than he’d imagined, which in hindsight was pretty dense of Makoto, since Haru’s tail has to be made of nothing but muscle. He’s a mess by the time he’s climbed the stairs, but he refuses to put Haru down, knowing that if he does, he won’t be able to pick him back up again.

“I’m sorry I’m so heavy,” Haru mumbles.

“No, it’s fine, you’re fine,” Makoto pants, hurrying across the street with images of people’s horrified reactions to Haru flashing through his head.  “We’re almost there.”

“Are you worried about people seeing me?”

“A little bit,” he admits, making for the chain link fence that surrounds the pool.  “It’s still a bit risky at this hour.”

Haru rests his head against Makoto’s neck, the movement of his eyelashes making the tips of Makoto’s ears heat up.  “You could’ve waited.”

“No way,” Makoto says, shaking his head as he finds the gate.  He looks at the padlock keeping it shut and pauses, his hands twitching, not knowing what to do.  “Um.”  Hesitantly, he shifts his hold on Haru so his forearms bear most of the weight, Haru instinctively tightening his hold on Makoto, pulling himself up with a small huff against Makoto’s skin that sends his heart rate skyrocketing.

“Sorry,” Makoto apologizes, swallowing as he tries to ignore the way Haru’s hair feels when it brushes against his ear.  He fumbles with the padlock, and he nearly drops it when Haru sighs just barely, his breath hitching with pain in a way that makes Makoto’s stomach clench and renews his determination to help.  The combination’s a bit fuzzy from his days in the swim club, but it comes to him quickly enough and soon he’s passing the pool and backing through the door to the locker rooms, careful not to bump Haru’s head on the door jamb.

“What’s that smell?” Haru asks as Makoto winds his way through the lockers.

“Huh?”

Makoto looks down in time to see Haru’s nose wrinkle.  “That… irritating…”

Makoto realizes what Haru’s talking about, catching a whiff himself. “Oh,” he says, “It’s the chlorine.”  He smiles, but it quickly disappears when Haru glares at him.

“It’s gross.”

Makoto gives a weak laugh.  “I’m sorry?”

Haru sighs, casts his eyes down and nudges Makoto’s shoulder with his head.  “It’s fine.”

“It’s the best I could think of,” Makoto explains quietly, slowing down as he approaches the showers.  He pauses for a moment, adjusts his grip on Haru’s body, and chooses a stall, where he kneels, gently lowering Haru onto the tiled floor and taking extra care not to jostle anything. 

“What are you – ”

“I need to clean you up and get that stuff off of your fin,” Makoto says, running a reassuring hand over the top of Haru’s head before standing up.  “I’ll be right back,” he promises, prompted by the way Haru’s eyes widen with panic.  “I just have to find some stuff.”  He gives Haru a reassuring smile, something twisting in his chest as he turns his back on him in search of the manager’s office.  He breaks into a fast walk as soon as he’s out of Haru’s sight, not wanting him to be out of his own sight for too long but not wanting to risk hurting himself by running. 

The door to the office is unlocked, thankfully, and Makoto bites back a squeak when he swings it open and sees a hulking shadow out of the corner of his eye.  When he realizes it’s just the file cabinet, he sighs, putting a hand to his chest in an attempt to calm his erratically beating heart.  _You can’t be a scaredy cat now_ , he tells himself as he takes a deep, calming breath.  _Haru needs you_.

His purpose reinvigorated, Makoto rushes to the desk, opening each drawer with rising panic until finally, in the largest, he finds the first aid kit.  It’s a little smaller than he remembers from the time Rei hit his head on the edge of the pool, but it’s all he has, and after he finds the scissors he’s hurrying back to Haru, who he finds with his head down and his eyes closed, his flushed cheek smushed against the tile in what Makoto thinks is an attempt to cool it down.  As Makoto approaches, his eyes flutter open, his mouth twitching when Makoto holds up the first aid kit for him to see.  “Is that enough to do anything?” he asks, his voice faint in a way that makes Makoto wish he had been able to think of a better plan.

“It’s all I have,” he admits, setting it down and kneeling beside Haru with the scissors in hand.  “It’ll have to do.”

Haru doesn’t look convinced, but he lets Makoto approach his fin with the scissors all the same.  Makoto runs a sympathetic hand over the darkened skin before gingerly testing the line, trying to find a place to start.  He swallows nervously as he puts the scissors into position, suddenly filled with doubts about his qualifications for doing something like this.

“Just do it already,” Haru grumbles, tilting his head back and biting his bottom lip.  “It _hurts_ , get it _off_.”

“Okay, okay, I will.”  Makoto’s voice is thin, but he sets his mouth in a grim line before snipping at the line.  He yelps when a piece of it flies up, jumping back and nearly dropping the scissors in his surprise.  Haru stays quiet, letting Makoto gather himself enough to continue.

“Do you want me to talk?” Makoto asks, snipping again, and again.  “You know, to get your mind off of how it feels?”

Haru nods stiffly, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Any questions?” Makoto prompts.

“How’d you know the combination?” Haru asks through gritted teeth.

Makoto finds himself blushing despite himself, and he looks down, paying special attention to Haru’s fin.  “I – I was the captain of the swim club here.  Just last year, actually.”

“You _used_ to be.”

_Snip._ “We weren’t good enough to gain any new members or get any money, so it kind of fell apart.”

“Well, you _aren’t_ very good,” Haru says, and when Makoto looks up incredulously, he’s smiling.  “No wonder no one wanted to join.  You aren’t very inspiring in the water, are you?”

“That’s because you’ve only seen me when I’m drowning,” Makoto grumbles, looking down at the mess of fishing line he still has to go through.  “I’m normally a lot better.”

Haru _hmph_ s.  “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he says, pulling a laugh out of Makoto.  His eyes flick over to glare at him.  “What?”

“That’s just what Rin said when he tried to get me to join the swim club in elementary school,” Makoto says, a small smile remaining on his face as he remembers.  “He’d just transferred into our class, and since I sat next to him I was the first person he tried to befriend, and we just sort of stuck together.”  He clears his throat when he earns a derisive sniff from Haru.  “A-anyway,” he continues, focusing on cutting as he does so, “he kind of went on a campaign to get me to join the swim club with him, and when I told him I wasn’t a good swimmer he came back with ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ like you just said.  Except, you know, he meant the opposite of what you meant…”  He trails off, watching Haru closely for a reaction.  Thanks to his stoic demeanor, there isn’t one, and Makoto casts his eyes back down to his hands.

“I never got to be as good as Rin, but after a year we were able to win a relay together with my friend Nagisa and another kid who ended up moving away after our first year of middle school.  It was really fun,” he adds, “swimming with my friends like that.”  He peeks up at Haru, who’s watching him with big eyes, and shrugs.  “I don’t know, it’s not like it made that much of an impact on my life, but I like to think that it was still important.  It made all the hard work worth it, you know?”

Haru doesn’t say anything, just moves his eyes over Makoto’s features.  Makoto coughs, self-conscious.  “And then Rin went to Australia to get even better, and Nagisa and I continued through middle school, but once I got to high school and there wasn’t a club to join, and Rin wasn’t around to push me anyway, I just didn’t see the point of keeping it up.”

He finds himself unable to stop, adding, “But I still liked to swim, so in the summer I would swim in the ocean.  And that’s what I was doing when you found me,” he finishes, looking up at Haru with a shy smile. 

Haru looks at him with wide eyes as Makoto gives a final snip.  “And that’s done, too,” he says, flashing Haru a triumphant smile.  “Does it feel better?”

Haru frowns. “It feels sore.”

“I’m sure it’ll get better in no time,” Makoto assures him, punctuating it with a gentle pat on Haru’s tail that leaves the two of them looking off in different directions with heated faces.

Makoto clears his throat in an attempt to persevere.  “I guess I should get to the rest of you, huh?”

Haru nods.  “Probably.”

**

By the time he finishes cleaning and disinfecting all of Haru’s scratches, Makoto is filthy with blood and grime, his sweaty shirt clinging to him while his shorts have a discolored blotch where he’d spilled some peroxide.  He sits back on his heels as Haru pillows his head on his arm, his eyes closed and his cheeks still flushed, prompting Makoto to put a hand to his forehead.  It’s burning up, and Makoto curses himself for not checking sooner.

“Haru,” he says, nudging the mermaid, who only furrows his eyebrows and squeezes his eyes shut tighter, “I need to go home and pick a few things up.  I’ll be back as fast as possible, I promise – ”

Haru's eyes fly open, making Makoto shut up.  “You said you wouldn’t leave me,” he says, his voice sharp with panic.

Makoto's chest constricts as he says, “I’ll be half an hour, tops, I just _really_ need to change, and you need medicine for your fever – ”

“I don’t want to be alone," Haru says, his voice so small that for a moment Makoto forgets the way he probably smells like a dumpster at a hospital.  There’s an urge to lie down next to Haru and put his arms around him and not leave him until he heals, but he quickly rids himself of it when he thinks of his parents wondering where he is.

Which reminds him of his lie from earlier, and he checks his watch with a sigh that quickly turns into a cry of panic when he realizes it’s approaching midnight.  He scrambles to find his phone in one of his pockets, opening it to find a message from his mother with a timestamp from over thirty minutes ago:

_Is your movie over yet? :)_

Makoto groans, and Haru blinks up at him with concern.

“What is it?”

“I _really_ need to go home,” Makoto says, standing up and wringing his hands.  “I promise I’ll be back, I really do – ”

“Am I causing trouble for you?” Haru asks with a frown.

“No!  No,” Makoto promises, his voice ringing false despite his words.  “It’s fine.”

Haru sits up.  “You should go, if you need to.”

“I don’t want you being all by yourself – ”

“I can survive for – how long did you say?  Half an hour, tops?”  He gives Makoto a reassuring smile that makes Makoto short of breath. 

“Y-yeah.”

“Just don’t disappoint me,” Haru huffs, serious again as he looks off to the side.

Makoto smiles.  “I won’t.”

**

He gets an idea when he’s halfway back to his house.

“Mako-chan?”  Nagisa snorts, following it up with a laugh.  “Who the heck _calls_ anymore?”

Makoto ignores him.  “Nagisa, I need a favor from you.”

“Oh, what is it?”  Nagisa’s voice perks up.  “Is this where you need me to help you bury a dead body in a test of our friendship’s strength?  ‘Cause I’m down for that.  I would do that for you.”

“Nagisa, I – _what_?”  Makoto is genuinely speechless.  “N-no, I – why would I have a dead body?”

Nagisa makes a noncommittal noise.  “Dunno.  You calling me at a time like this _is_ pretty sketchy, though.”

“I need to borrow your inflatable pool.”

There’s cackling on the other end of the line, and Makoto’s pretty sure he hears the phone get dropped.  His suspicions are confirmed when Nagisa sounds far away as he hoots, “Oh, my God, Mako-chan!”

“I’m serious!”

He hears the phone get picked up, Nagisa’s voice coming through more clearly when he says, “Why do you need _that_ piece of trash?  It’s from when my sisters were kids, it’s so old and nasty.”

“I have no one else to ask,” Makoto explains, hoping he comes across as desperate enough that Nagisa stops questioning it and simply agrees.

“Is it for the twins?  Are they tired of going to the beach?”

“Y-yeah, they are.”  Makoto hadn’t even thought of an excuse.  “So can you bring it over tomorrow?”

“In a hurry, aren’t you?”

Makoto sighs in exasperation.  “Just do it, please?”

“I don’t have to catch the first train, do I?  Or are you that impatient for my jank pool?”

“If you caught the 8:30 train, that should be good.”  Makoto can see his house now, and he really wants to be done with this before he reaches it.

“That’s so _early_!” Nagisa whines, and Makoto can just picture the way he’s probably flopping over on his bed with a pained expression on his face.

“The twins don’t sleep forever like you do,” Makoto chides.  “Please?”

Nagisa huffs a reluctant sigh, reminding Makoto of Haru.  “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Makoto breathes, a weight he wasn’t even aware of lifting from his chest.  “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t I know it,” Nagisa says cheekily. 

They exchange a few more parting words before Nagisa lets Makoto hang up, leaving him with a chuckle and a muttered, “Who fricking _calls_ , oh, my God” that Makoto is certain is entirely meant to rankle him one last time, which is exactly what happens. 

When he reaches his house, he has to stop himself from simply walking in through the front door, remembering the state of his clothing with chagrin.  He goes around to the back and puts an ear to the door.  It’s quiet, so he cracks it open and peeks; the hallway’s empty, and he thanks his lucky stars as he slips through, thanking them again when he makes it to the stairs without arousing any suspicion from his parents in their room.

Makoto can feel a bubble of delirious laughter rising in his throat as he rounds the corner that leads to his room, unable to shake the thought of how proud Rin would be of his sneaking around abilities when suddenly he’s falling over, landing on the floor with a thud and an _oof_ as two squirming bodies struggle to disentangle themselves from his legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have four papers and a test in the next week and a half so if I don't manage to update next week, it's because of that.


	10. Chapter 10

He almost shrieks when he feels hands on him, but the whispered, “ _Ow_ , that’s my _face_ , you idiot!” brings him back as he hears a smack that’s followed by a whiny complaint.  A flashlight suddenly shines in Makoto’s face, blinding him as twin gasps get issued.

“Can you turn that _off_?” he gripes, groping in front of him in an attempt to wrest it from whoever’s holding it.  “I can’t _see_ – ”

“What are you doing here?” comes Ren’s voice as the light gets switched off.  “Aren’t you supposed to be out with Nagisa-chan?”

“I am, yeah, but – wait,” Makoto says, narrowing his eyes as they adjust once more to the darkness.  “What are _you_ doing up?  It’s past your bedtime.”

“Mom’s worried about you,” Ran tries, but Makoto ignores her as he stands and starts to shepherd them back to their room.  “She’s in the kitchen drinking tea and watching late night dramas and sighing a lot – ”

“Are you lying to her?” Ren asks, horrified.

“You need to go to bed,” Makoto deflects, giving them a gentle push down the hall.

“Oh, my God, you are!”  Ran’s whisper is almost a hiss with the amount of accusation she puts into it as she turns around to glare at Makoto.  “You – you – ”

“Hippo-crate!” Ren interjects.

“That’s not it,” Ran whines.

“You mean hypocrite,” Makoto corrects, leading them into their room.  “And you’re right.  Don’t follow my example, okay?”

“Were you with Haru-chan?” Ren asks.

Makoto starts, looking down at his brother with wide eyes.  “W-what?”

“He totally was,” Ran says, narrowing her eyes decisively.  “Look how shady he’s acting all of a sudden.”

“Is that why you lied to Mom?”

“Do you need our help protecting his identity?”

“Do we need to cover for you?”

“Is Haru-chan okay?”

“Guys!” Makoto hisses, stopping outside their door.  He closes his eyes when they give him kicked puppy looks, exhaling through his nose as he collects himself.  “I’m with Haru, yes, but he needs me to get back to him as soon as I can – ”

“Is he in trouble?”

“ – so I need you to cooperate with me.”  Makoto looks each twin in the eye, one at a time.  “Got it?”

They salute.  “Yes, sir!”

Makoto stands up, hands on hips.  “Good. Now – ”

“But what about Mom?” Ran pipes up.

“Yeah, she’s waiting for you to tell her you’re coming home,” Ren adds.

Makoto resists the temptation to groan out loud.  “Okay,” he says, mostly to himself.  He kneels down until he’s eye to eye with the twins.  “I’m going to text Mom, and then I’m going to sneak back out before coming in through the front door and letting her see me.  You two just need to stay up here, alright?”

“You can’t let Mom see you all nasty like that,” Ran says.

He looks down at his clothes, surprised that he had forgotten the state of them so quickly.  “Crap.  I can’t.”

She pushes him until he’s standing, ordering, “Go change and then do your thing.  We’ve got your back.”

“For Haru-chan!” Ren cheers, but he’s immediately shushed by Makoto and Ran.

“ _Stupid_ ,” she hisses, poking him in the ribs.

Makoto leaves them to bicker behind their closed door, and once he’s in his own room he pulls out his phone and sends an apologetic text to his mother saying the movie ran late and that he’s been invited to spend the night at Nagisa’s, adding that he’ll be stopping by to collect a few things.  A ping of guilt sticks in his chest when he receives a reply right away.

_Okay.  Thank u for letting me know!_

He has to push it down, though, as he changes into something similar enough to what he had on before that it won’t make his mother suspicious.  Then he’s retracing his steps to the back door and cutting around the house, trying not to look too out of breath as he quietly opens the front door.

“Makoto?” He hears the volume go down on the TV in the kitchen, and soon enough his mother’s head is poking out from the doorway.  “How was your movie?”

Makoto feels wretched at the sight of her tired smile.  “It was good,” he lies, desperately hoping she can’t hear the false note in his voice.  “But I actually have to be really fast, because the last train leaves in a few minutes.”

“Oh, of course.”  She puts a warm hand to his cheek as he walks by, studying his face when he stops.  “You’re so grown up,” she whispers.  “How did it happen so fast?”

_Oh, no_.  Makoto knows she’s thinking of his time in Tokyo the university applications coming up, and with a nervous laugh he carefully extracts himself, mumbling, “I’m not even 18 yet, I’m still a kid, stop worrying so much,” and giving her a reassuring smile when she starts to protest.  “It’s fine, Mom.  I’m fine, you’re fine, everything’s fine.”

“Go get your stuff,” she grumbles, looking away with what Makoto knows are tears in her eyes.  “I’m going to finish cleaning the kitchen.”

Makoto smiles and leans over to press a kiss to the top of her head.  “Late night dramas really do a number on you, huh?”

She waves an embarrassed hand.  “Don’t tease an old woman.”

“You’re not old.”

She laughs and gently pushes him towards the stairs.  “ _Go_.”

“Okay, okay,” he laughs, following her orders.

When he gets back to his room, Ran and Ren are hunched over something, muttering under their breath and shoving each other at the same time.  “What are you doing?” Makoto asks, pursing his lips when they jump apart with surprised cries.  “I thought I told you to go back to bed.”

“We – we were just trying to help!” Ren explains, his hands behind his back as Makoto tries peeking into the overnight bag they apparently started for him.

“Is that shoujo manga?” he asks, spying the light blue covers.

“We thought Haru-chan might get bored,” Ran says.  “Ren added a few of his mangas but I don’t think Haru-chan will like them as much.”

“That’s not true!”

She sticks out her tongue.  “It so is.”

“Um, thanks,” Makoto says, rummaging through the rest of the bag to find an assortment of clothes, swim suits, towels, and Ren’s 3DS.  “Are you sure you want me to take this?” he asks, holding it up.

“Haru-chan will give it back,” Ren replies.  “I trust him.”

“Okay…”  Makoto only has to make a few adjustments, and he has to admit that the twins did a pretty good job.  “Thanks, guys,” he says, gathering them up for a quick hug.  “Now you need to go to bed, and I _mean it_ this time.”

“But – ”

“ _No buts_.”

**

Makoto’s heart is jumping into his throat as he opens the door to the locker rooms, fully aware that his excursion lasted longer than promised.  He calls out to Haru, announcing his arrival, and when he doesn’t get anything in response, he breaks out into a jog only to find Haru asleep in the shower.

He lets the bag drop onto the floor from his shoulder as he approaches, a smile forming on his face as Haru wrinkles his nose.

“You’re late,” he says, opening his eyes to glare at Makoto.

“I know, and I’m sorry.”  Makoto turns to the bag and rummages through it, returning to Haru with a small bottle of medicine.

“What’s that?” he asks, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Makoto puts a hand to his forehead.  “It’s for your fever.”

“I don’t need anything.”

“I’ll feel better if you take it.”

Haru hesitates, but his frown only deepens.  “No.”

“Huh?”

Haru lays his head back down and closes his eyes.  “I’ll be fine, I just need rest.”

“B-but – ”

He opens an irritated eye.  “Don’t you trust me?”

Makoto leans back, hurt.  “Of course I trust you.”  He self-consciously fiddles with the lid of the bottle, twisting it on and off as his chest constricts.

Haru’s other eye opens, his expression softening when he sees the way Makoto’s reacting.  “H-hey, I didn’t mean – ”

“No, no, you’re right,” Makoto deflects, capping the bottle and tossing it into the bag.  “I just… got worried.”  He shrugs, smiling lamely.  “I don’t know.  But you shouldn’t sleep in a shower,” he adds, nudging Haru into a sitting position.  “We can sleep in the manager’s office, where it’s carpeted.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Haru mumbles, looking away as Makoto prepares to pick him up and giving him a questioning look when he suddenly stops.

“Do you need to be in water?” he asks.  Haru’s eyebrows furrow even closer together, so he says, “I mean, your tail.  Will something bad happen if it dries out?”

Haru shrugs.  “Dunno.”

“Well, what should I do?” Makoto cries, feeling the enormity of what he doesn’t know rising up like a panic.

“Really, I’m fine right here…”  Haru trails off when Makoto’s suddenly rummaging through the bag again, pulling out the towels Ran and Ren had provided.

“What if I wet these and wrap them around your tail?” he asks.

Haru sighs.  “I guess it could work.”

He ends up with his lower half wrapped up like a roll of sushi, and Makoto apologizes when he starts to complain.

“Should I take them off?”

Haru fidgets.  “No, it’s just a little weird, but I’ll get used to it.”

“Are you sure?”

He looks at Makoto with a flat expression.  “Just pick me up already.”

“O-oh.”  Makoto does as he’s told, and when they reach the office he sets Haru down with his back to the desk and leaves, coming back with the overnight bag, which he plops on top of the desk.  Without speaking, and with Haru watching, he pulls out a blanket, turns off the lights, and sits down next to Haru before wrapping the blanket around them.  “There,” he says, tugging a corner of the blanket until it’s adequately draped over Haru’s shoulder.  “So we don’t get cold.”

Haru doesn’t say anything, and when Makoto checks his face, it looks like he’s blushing.  “H-huh?  Did I do something wrong?”

Haru turns his head away, frowning.  “N-no, you’re just… close.”

Makoto starts.  “Do you want me to – ”

“No.”  Haru shifts, and Makoto thinks he understands when he’s suddenly aware of the way Haru’s skin feels against his own.  He starts to pull away, chiding himself for not thinking about what this might imply, but Haru pulls on the blanket, bringing Makoto closer to him.  “Don’t.”

Makoto’s heart swells.  “Haru…”

“You only have one of these,” he explains.

Makoto smiles.  “You mean the blanket?”

“Is that what it’s called?”

Makoto chuckles, stopping short when Haru settles back and rests his head against Makoto’s shoulder.  “You sound nice when you do that,” he mumbles.

“I – I do?”

Makoto feels him nod.  “We should sleep now,” he says.  “I’m tired.”

“O-okay.”  Something grabs Makoto’s hand, and it’s not until after he’s jumped and let out a whimper of fear that he realizes it’s just Haru, who quickly retracts his hand.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

Makoto can feel his heartbeat in his ears as he flushes what he guesses is a shade similar to crimson.  “N-no, _I’m_ sorry…”

Haru’s hand finds his again, and Makoto does his best to stay still. 

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Haru murmurs, his breath making gooseflesh break out across the back of Makoto’s neck.

Makoto can only manage a nod, and Haru squeezes his hand in unspoken thanks.  He squeezes back, a silent _You’re welcome_ , unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face as Haru sighs and shifts against him.

**

Makoto wakes up when his phone rings, the shrill sound cutting through the silent office like a knife.  Haru stirs as he leans over to dig it out of his bag, but he doesn’t retrieve it in time to answer.  With a groggy sigh, he checks his missed calls, and all vestiges of sleep leave him when he recognizes Nagisa’s number.

“ _Crap_ ,” he hisses, hurriedly calling his voicemail as Haru hums against his shoulder.

“Mako-chaaaaaan,” Nagisa’s voice whines, and Makoto can hear the trains behind him.  “What kind of person makes their friend get up at an ungodly hour and then forgets about them?  It’s been twenty minutes, and if you’re not here in ten I’m coming over to your house, got that?  Sheesh.”  There are a few more muttered words as he listens to Nagisa hang up, but he’s closing his phone and tossing it back in the bag before the message ends, throwing the blanket off of him and starting to get up, but stopping when Haru makes a disgruntled noise.

“Ah, sorry!” he says, wincing as Haru furrows his eyebrows and presses his face into Makoto’s shoulder.

“Don’t go,” he mumbles, lazily reaching out for the other end of the blanket to wrap around Makoto again.  “Stay.”

Makoto really wishes he could, what with the way one of Haru’s hands has clung to his shirt in an attempt to hold him back, but he gently eases it off, explaining, “I have to go.  I’m getting something that’ll help you.”

“–just need Makoto…”

Makoto freezes, unable to move as Haru’s hand finds his shirt again.  “H-Haru, I really need to go…”

Haru sighs sharply before letting go.  “Fine.”

“I’ll be back!” Makoto promises, draping the rest of the blanket over Haru as he gets up.  “I’ll be faster this time.”

Haru just snorts.  “Sure.”

“I promise!”

He opens an eye that’s glittering with something that makes Makoto’s stomach fold in on itself.  “I trust you.”

“R-right.”  Makoto swallows.  “Okay.”

**

He dials Nagisa’s number as soon as he leaves the locker room, and he can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes him when Nagisa answers on the second ring.

“I hope your family isn’t sleeping, because I’m gonna bust through your door screaming and yelling–”

“You’re not already walking there, are you?” Makoto cries, breaking into a frenzied run.  “Crap!  Nagisa!”

“What, are you not home or something?”  When Nagisa hears Makoto’s increased breathing over the line, he crows, “You’re not where you’re supposed to be, are you, Mako-chan?”

“Nagisa – just – wait – stop – wherever – ”

Nagisa hoots.  “Oh, my God, you’re so panicked!”

“Just – _wait_ – ”

“Okay, okay, I stopped,” he laughs.  “Where are you?”

“Five?  Minutes from the train station?  I think?”

“Dude, chill, okay.  I’ll meet you there.”  He hangs up without a word, but not before Makoto catches his cackling. 

He continues to run the rest of the way, and he makes it to the train station before Nagisa, using whatever time he has to catch his breath.  He’s still bent double and wheezing little when Nagisa shows up with the pool folded over his arm, still laughing at Makoto.

“You are so ridiculous,” he chuckles as Makoto straightens up.  “Look at you!”

“Nagisa, just give me the pool.”

He leans back, affronted.  “Hold up, I’m not just gonna _give_ my pool to you without an explanation.”

“ _Nagisa_ – ”

“I mean, you call me late at night asking for my old-as-shit pool without telling me _why_ , and _then_ you ask me to catch a train at some godforsaken time – who, at our age, gets up before 8:30?  I’d really like to know – and _then_!” he cries as Makoto winces, “And _then_ you don’t even show up!  You don’t answer my call, and when you finally manage to return it, you’re panting like you’re either running a marathon or having rough sex!”  He gasps.  “Are you doing _drugs_?”

“Why on earth would you think – ”

“Have you joined a gang?  Were you initiated last night?  Is there really a dead body you need to dispose of?”

“ _Nagisa_!”

He covers his mouth with his free hand in a lame attempt to smother a laugh.  “You’re so angry right now,” he chokes out.

“That’s because you won’t let me freaking talk!” Makoto yells, shrinking into himself when he earns a glare from passerby.  “I was _going_ to say,” he hisses, stepping closer to Nagisa, “That you just need to – to...”  He falters, his face losing its anger as he realizes he can’t just demand the pool from Nagisa anymore.  He has to – to…

_Oh, no_. 

“You have that ‘Oh-no’ look on your face,” Nagisa says.  “What’s going on?”

Makoto puts a hand over his eyes as he groans, “Can you keep a secret for me?”

Nagisa hops closer.  “I like secrets.”

Makoto lowers his hand.  “You _can’t_ tell anyone this, though.  Literally.  _No one_.”

“Not even Rei-chan?”

“You’re still weird about him.  No.”

“That was a low blow.  But point taken.”

Makoto sighs.  “I just – I can’t tell you here, I – I have to show you.  I don’t know how to explain it.”

When he looks up, Nagisa’s mouth has fallen open in awe.  “Nagisa, it isn’t–”

“It’s a dead body!”

“It isn’t!”

Nagisa skips away just as Makoto makes a grab for the pool.  “Ah-ah-ahhh, Mako-chan.  I’m not trusting you with this valuable asset until you show me what you need it for.  Otherwise the deal’s off.”

“We don’t have a deal, I just–”

Nagisa shushes him.  “You’re asking me to keep a secret, right?”

“Right…”

“Then we have a deal going on,” he concludes.  “If you show me what’s got you acting so unbelievably sketchy, then I’ll give you the pool _and_ keep your secret.”

Makoto hesitates, but he knows that he’s been cornered.  So he offers his hand to shake.  “Fine.”

Nagisa looks at his hand before doubling over with laughter.  “You’re so lame!”

“Th-that’s what people do when they make deals, isn’t it?”

“But you did it so lamely!”  

Makoto quickly puts his hand down with a slight scowl and goes over to Nagisa.  The latter looks up, and he’s about to ask him something when Makoto gives him a sudden push in the school’s direction, not saying anything when he whines loudly in protest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, I managed to post! Thanksgiving's soon, so I should be able to update next week with no problem!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I didn't get an update in last week!! I really thought I would have time over a break, but I ended up being really busy. But I am back and hopefully I should be able to update regularly again!

Nagisa doesn’t shut up the whole time they’re walking to the school.

He’s blabbering on about what he thinks Makoto might need an inflatable pool for, spinning a theory in which he means to dissolve a dead body in acid.  Makoto doesn’t have the energy to make him stop, so he simply leads him down the road as he tries to block out the incessant chattering.

“–but it doesn’t really make sense, does it?  Because the acid would just dissolve the pool, too.  But my pool doesn’t matter to you – it’s collateral damage, and you were planning on saying some shrine cats ripped into it and ruined it, and you were going to tell me it’s unsalvageable, but you would have already bought a replacement pool before you told me so you could give it to me without encouraging an argument, hoping that I would just let it drop–”

“We’re here,” Makoto interrupts, swinging the gate open and ushering Nagisa into the pool area.  “Now stop talking.”

“You brought it _here_?”  Nagisa turns to Makoto with wide eyes and a disbelieving grin.  “Wow.  _Wow_.  Mako-chan, you are twisted.”

Makoto grabs his arm and tugs.  “Come on.”

Nagisa giggles. “So forceful!”

Makoto doesn’t say anything as he leads Nagisa through the locker room, and he stops in front of the closed door of the manager’s office with a serious face.  “Nagisa,” he says.  “I need you to promise me that you’re not going to freak out.”

Nagisa waves a dismissive hand as he makes a contemptuous noise with his teeth against his bottom lip.  “Don’t worry, Mako-chan, I don’t actually think you have a dead body.”

“Just promise me?”

“Ugh, _fine_ , whatever, I promise,” he says with a disgruntled twist of his mouth.  “Happy?”

“Not really.”

Nagisa snorts, but he cuts it short when Makoto begins twisting the doorknob, his face suddenly serious when Makoto turns to check one last time.

“Don’t freak out,” he says, and when he opens the door enough to see into the room, Nagisa shrieks.

“ _Nagisa_!”

“ _What the fuck is that_?”

Makoto turns, his eyes landing on Haru – and the bloodstained towels wrapped around his lower half.  “Oh, no,” he says.

Nagisa turns to Makoto, his eyes wide and not seeing Haru as he lifts his head up in annoyance.  “Oh, no?  _Oh, no_?  You killed someone!”

“I didn’t kill anyone!”

“You actually took me to a dead body!”

Haru sits up, groaning a little as he looks for the source of all this commotion.  Nagisa twists away from Makoto with a surprised yelp, and when he and Haru lock eyes, Nagisa’s hands fly up to cover his mouth and Haru loses his balance, falling over and revealing his tail as the towels slide off.

 “Wha–”  Nagisa lowers his hands as he watches Haru right himself.  “Where are his legs.”

Makoto screws up his eyes, his stomach clenching.  “He doesn’t have any?”

Nagisa turns to him with a frighteningly serious expression.  “Are you saying you found a mermaid?”

He shrugs.  “Yeah?  I guess?”

Nagisa turns back to Haru, his eyes dancing as he exclaims, “That is so cool!” 

“Um, Nagisa–”

He ignores Makoto, though, crouching next to Haru with a surprising amount of concern on his face.  “Why is he all beat up, though?  Mako-chan didn’t hurt you, did he?” he asks Haru, who simply frowns.

“No, I – I found him like that–”

Nagisa turns to him, his mouth gaping in disbelief.  “You’re really gonna give me _that_ kind of answer?  Do you realize how shady that sounds?”

“I met him long before last night–”

Nagisa’s mouth quickly morphs into a huge grin.  “What did I say when you told me and Rei-chan what happened when you drowned?” he asks. He turns back to Haru, who leans back in an attempt to put more distance between them.  “What did I say?

Makoto can feel Haru’s eyes on him, can feel the way he’s probably glaring at him with accusation burning in his eyes for bringing this annoying human.  He looks down at his feet and mumbles, “It was a mermaid.”

Nagisa looks away from Haru to put a hand to his ear and lean in Makoto’s direction.  “Sorry?  Didn’t catch that.”

“You said it was a mermaid!”

“I freaking did!”  Nagisa claps his hands together with a delighted bubble of laughter.  “I called it!”

Makoto sighs, putting his face in his hand as Nagisa turns intently to Haru.  “What’s your name?”

When Haru doesn’t speak, only narrowing his eyes with a quiet huff of air, Nagisa turns to Makoto.  “He doesn’t like me,” he says, pouting.

Makoto crosses his arms defensively, a slight scowl pulling on his lips.  “Well, yeah, if I was woken up by a shrieking kid like you, I’d be kind of pissed, as well,” he snaps.

“Mako-chan’s grumpy.”  Nagisa laughs when Makoto’s eyes narrow like Haru’s.  “You’re both so _hostile_ , jeez.”  He hops up, dusting off his pants before going over the pool, which he’d dropped in all of the commotion.  He picks it up with an unnecessary grunt, grinning at Makoto when he looks up to find him watching with a raised brow.  “You wanted this for your friend here, right?” he asks.  “I’ll help you set it up.”

Makoto’s taken aback.  “R-really?”

Nagisa scoffs.  “Do I really come off as that bad of a friend?  You really need to reevaluate this relationship, Mako-chan.” Before Makoto can reply with something indignant and meant to assuage what he thinks are Nagisa’s hurt feelings, Nagisa gives him a lopsided smile.  “I’m _kidding_.”  He hefts up the pool.  “Where do you want this?”

“Uh – um…”

“Makoto.”

They both whirl towards Haru, who’s glaring at them – or rather, glaring at Nagisa. 

“Yeah?”  Makoto walks over to Haru and crouches next to him.  “What is it?”

“I don’t like that thing he’s holding,” Haru says.

Makoto starts.  “The pool?  It’s so you can be in water.”

Haru’s eyes meet Makoto’s as he says, his face completely serious, “You can’t fill that with water.  It’s flat.”

Makoto does his best, but he can’t help the small snort that escapes from his nose as he clutches his stomach and bites his lip.

Haru frowns.  “What?”

Nagisa lets out a cackle, and when Makoto turns to look at him, he’s bent double, and his face has turned pink.  “He – he said–”

“Nagisa, don’t laugh!”  Makoto turns back to Haru with something close to panic bubbling in his chest, and it threatens to overflow into chaos when he sees Haru glaring at his friend with a wrinkled nose.

“I’m _sorry_ , Mako-chan, but it’s just – so – _funny_ –”

“Nagisa, shut up!”  Makoto’s standing up before he’s finished with his admonishment, and he quickly ushers Nagisa out of the room, making sure he doesn’t drop the pool in the process.  When they get to the showers, he turns him around and holds him by the shoulders, looking intently into his mirth-filled eyes.  “Haru doesn’t know that pools can start out as flat pieces of plastic, okay?  He’s a mermaid, and he lives in the ocean.  He’s never encountered this before.”

Nagisa grimaces.  “Okay, okay, sheesh, you don’t need to get so defensive.”  He shrugs Makoto off of him and takes a step back.  “What is he, your boyfriend?”  He grins.  “Your _mer_ friend?”

“I think I’m beginning to understand why Rin’s always threatening to hit you,” Makoto gripes.

“That’s rude.”

Makoto sighs, resting a hand on his hip as he pinches the bridge of his nose.  “I found him injured under the pier last night, and I’m just trying to help him.”  He looks up at Nagisa then with earnest eyes.  “He’s all alone up here.”

“Then why’d you take him away from where he lives?” Nagisa scoffs, shifting his weight from one foot to the other with a sassy jut of his hip.  “That doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do.”

“I was panicking!” Makoto protests.  “He was bleeding out onto the sand and I didn’t know what to do!”

“Shit, that sounds pretty bad.”

“Nagisa, just help me inflate the pool, okay?”  Makoto takes the pool from Nagisa then and unfolds it.  “I need to be home soon.”

“Wait – were you _here_ all last night?”  When Makoto looks up, Nagisa’s gaping.

“What?  Haru was all alone, I didn’t want him to be–”

Nagisa snorts.  “Oh, my God, you and him–”

“Don’t you dare say it!”

“You’re in _love_!” Nagisa crows, cackling as Makoto goes for a badly-aimed slap.  “I can’t believe it, it’s like The Little Mermaid!”

“ _No_ ,” Makoto groans.  “ _Don’t_ –”

Nagisa dances around the yet-inflated pool.  “Haru-chan fell in love with Mako-chan, and now he’s using his injury to make Mako-chan fall in love with him!  Once he’s healed, he’ll change into his human form, seduce you, and carry you away as his human-mermaid sex slave!”

“You’re not being serious, are you?” Makoto exclaims.

Nagisa falls into a sitting position, giggling the whole time.  “Of course not.  Haru-chan likes Mako-chan too much to make him a sex slave.  You’re just going to end up married.”

Makoto sighs, exhausted.  “Whatever, fine.  Just help me with this, okay?”

**

When they’re finished, Makoto falls onto the floor with a worn-out groan.

“Feeling okay there, Mako-chan?” Nagisa asks from somewhere above him.  He feels a toe nudge his side, but he only closes his eyes and rolls onto his side.

“Go away,” he grumbles.  “Find some water.”

“What do you mean?  We’re next to a bunch of showers.”

“Why aren’t you as tired as I am?” Makoto snaps.

Nagisa shrugs.  “My natural effervescence?  My can-do attitude?  Which do you want to pick?”

Makoto slowly gets up.  “I’m going to see how Haru’s doing.”

“Worried about him?” Nagisa asks with a leer.

“I’m not going to tell you.”  He leaves Nagisa with instructions to have the pool filled by the time he gets back, and then he’s leaving for the manager’s office, stopping in the doorway when he sees Haru with one of Ran’s mangas.  “Haru–”

“I don’t know what this is called, but it’s very interesting,” the mermaid says, holding the manga up for Makoto to see.  “Chika really needs to pick Kazuki over Michi, though.  Michi treats her a lot like Rin treats you, actually.  I don’t like it.”

Makoto’s speechless as Haru simply blinks at him.  “What?”

“Y-you’re reading something that Ran put in my bag,” he says, lamely watching as Haru skims through the pages.  “I meant to take that out, actually…”

“I like it,” Haru says, a small smile tugging the corner of his mouth.  “Please thank her for me.”

“O-okay…”

“Oh, my God, is that _Rainbow Passion Princess_?  Tell me it is.”  Nagisa walks past Makoto and eagerly reaches out for the manga, but Haru pulls it away before he can take it.

“I’m reading it,” he says as his eyes narrow.  “You can look at it later.”

“Mako-chan,” Nagisa whines, turning to his friend.  “Why doesn’t he like me?”

“Did you fill the pool?”

“I started it,” he hedges.

Makoto feels his stomach sink.  “What does that mean?”

“I turned on one of the showers and put the pool under it, and now it’s just filling up.”  Nagisa chuckles.  “Did you think I did something catastrophic?”

Makoto lets out a relieved sigh, shaking his head.  “It doesn’t matter.”

“What are you doing?” Haru asks.

Makoto turns to him with a nervous laugh.  “Since you still need to rest and heal and the outdoor pool is too risky to use, I had Nagisa bring a pool so you could still soak in some water.  Is that okay?”

Haru blinks, and his eyes seem bluer than ever when he says, “You’re very thoughtful.”

Makoto feels his face heat up, and he starts to stammer out some form of protest when Nagisa comes up from behind and claps a hand on his shoulder.  “The heat between you two is unbelievable,” he whispers, tilting an eyebrow suggestively.  “Want me to leave the room?”

Makoto nudges him away.  “I should actually check Haru’s injuries and see how they’re healing,” he says, moving away from Nagisa and closer to the mermaid.  He can’t believe he hadn’t thought of this sooner, chastising himself as he kneels next to Haru to examine the lacerations across his arms and chest.

“How do they feel?” He asks, his voice quiet as he peeks up to see Haru watching him closely.  “Better?”

Haru nods, swallowing.

Makoto smiles.  “Good.”  He traces a finger along a scratch that runs over Haru’s shoulder, not realizing what he’s doing until he feels Haru stiffen.  He immediately stops, refusing to look at Haru as he hurriedly turns his attention to the fin that he had had to cut free, his stomach sinking when he remembers the way it had looked the night before, and how much pain it had caused Haru.  “I’m glad.”

“Um, I’m still here,” comes Nagisa’s voice, and Makoto all but jumps out of his skin when he feels a hand pat his head.

“Nagisa!”

“I’ll go check on the pool,” Nagisa laughs, his eyes glittering as they flit between Makoto and Haru.  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He leaves, and Makoto finds himself unable to look Haru in the eye.  “I have to leave soon.  Is that okay?”

“Is your family going to be worried?”

He shrugs.  “The twins know, but my parents don’t, and if I stay away from home for too long, they’ll start to worry that something’s wrong.  But–”

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Haru interrupts, frowning.  “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

“A-are you sure?” Makoto asks, the back of his neck heating up as he looks at Haru to make sure he’s not just saying it for Makoto’s sake.  Haru seems determined, though, and Makoto feels slightly short of breath when he realizes what Haru is giving up for him.  “But you’ll be all alone in here,” he counters, hating the way Haru seems to shrink when he says it.  “You need company.”

“I’ll be fine,” he insists.

“Will you, though?”  Makoto feels his hand itch to touch Haru’s, but he closes it into a fist to keep himself from doing something embarrassing.  “You’re hurt and in a strange place.  You don’t deserve to be abandoned like that.”

“But if your parents are going to worry–”

“ _I’m_ going to worry–”

“Oh, my _God_ , you two, _I’ll_ stay and babysit Haru-chan if it’s what it takes to get you to stop pussyfooting like this, sheesh!”  Nagisa knocks a fist against the doorjamb as a belated announcement, as if his outburst hadn’t been enough.  “Is this a bad time?” he asks.

Makoto feels his face light up as he springs into a standing position, coughing self-consciously before saying, “You’ll do that for me?”

“For both of you,” Nagisa corrects.  “Haru-chan and I are going to be friends by the end of the night.”

Haru snorts derisively at that, and when Makoto turns to look at him, he’s crossed his arms and looked off to the side. 

Nagisa refuses to be dismayed, though, announcing that the pool is ready and offering to help Makoto carry Haru into the showers.  “No, thank you,” Makoto says, smiling when Nagisa opens his mouth to protest.  “I don’t think Haru trusts you.”

“He hasn’t even given me a chance!”

“Just go ahead and I’ll follow with Haru, okay?”  Nagisa sulks off, and Makoto can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of his chest before he turns to Haru.  “Are you ready?”

Haru nods, and when Makoto lifts him up he clings to him tightly.  His arms wind around Makoto’s neck, bringing his face alarmingly close until his eyes fill Makoto’s vision, and all he can think of is blue.  Unable to move, Makoto finds himself waiting with bated breath for something to happen, but he's too scared to do anything lest it break whatever balance they’ve created between them.  He sees Haru’s eyes wander down his face and come to a stop at his lips, and he feels like his heart is about to combust as Haru takes a breath, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration when Nagisa suddenly shouts something from the other room, and Makoto nearly drops Haru in his haste to move again.  “S-sorry,” he mutters, focusing on the ground in front of him as Haru buries his face in Makoto’s shoulder, his hair brushing against his neck and causing his heartbeat to stutter.

“Oh, that’s cute,” Nagisa says upon seeing them, but Makoto simply shushes him as he approaches the pool.  Gently, he lowers Haru into the water, careful not to jostle anything for fear of hurting him. 

“By the way, Nagisa,” Makoto says, standing up.  “My parents think I spent the night at your house last night.”

Nagisa snorts.  “Okay.  I’ll tell my parents I’m spending the night at your house tonight, then.  We can take turns until Haru-chan gets better.”

“Are you okay with that?” Makoto asks, shifting his gaze from Nagisa to Haru to include them both.

Haru shrugs.  “I already said I would be okay by myself.  You don’t have to fuss.”

“Aw, come on, it’ll be fun!” Nagisa protests.  “Like a sleepover, but in the swim club’s old locker room!  If Rei were here, it’d be more like last year–”

“Rei isn’t going to find out,” Makoto says sternly.  “You can’t tell him.”

“But _why_?” Nagisa moans, stamping a petulant foot on the ground.  “It’s not fair to leave him out!”

“I already didn’t want to tell you!”

Nagisa gasps.  “I am your _friend_!  Friends share things with each other.  Especially cool things like this!”

“You sound like Rin,” Makoto groans, bringing a hand to his forehead.  “ _Stop_ –”

“I’m just saying, it’s not very nice to leave Rei out of the loop if you’ve already let me in.  He’ll feel excluded if he ever finds out.” 

“He’s not _going_ to find out, though,” Makoto says.  “Nagisa, _please_ –”

Nagisa sighs loudly and dramatically.  “ _Fine_.  I won’t tell him.”

“Thank you.”  Makoto feels relief wash over him as Nagisa gives him the evil eye.  “Really.  Thank you.”

“Um,” Haru interrupts, and both Makoto and Nagisa whirl towards him as he shrinks under all of the attention.  “Sorry, but… I’m really hungry.”

It’s then that Makoto feels his stomach growl angrily, and he realizes that he hasn’t eaten since last night’s dinner.  “Crap, I’m hungry, too.”

“Let’s get lunch!” Nagisa exclaims.  “We’ll get something to-go so we can bring it back for Haru-chan to eat, too!”

Makoto considers, and then he’s turning to Haru.  “What do you like to eat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I need to say Haru's answer to that question? I think we can all guess.


	12. Chapter 12

“Soo…” 

Makoto winces as Nagisa draws the syllable out, tightening his grip on the shopping bag he’s carrying.  “What.”

Nagisa skips next to him, putting his hands coyly behind his back as he glances up at him.  “Nothing, just…  Are you and Haru-chan, like… together?”

“What?”  Makoto stops in his tracks, and Nagisa walks a bit further before sheepishly turning around.

He fidgets with the handle of his bag in an attempt to avoid Makoto’s eye, and Makoto feels uneasy, seeing him suddenly so serious and nervous.  “I mean, I know I made a bunch of jokes about it, but… you… like him?”  And once he starts, he can’t stop.  “Like, not just like you like me, or Rei-chan, or Rin-chan – and I know I joke about you and Rin-chan all the time, but I never really mean it, you know that, right? – but you like him in the way that you would – that you’re _supposed_ to like…”  He kicks at the pavement, screwing up his eyes as he forces the words out.  “A girl?  You like him like you’d like a girl.”

Makoto doesn’t know what to say, so he just sputters something incoherent as Nagisa looks up at him with an emotion not unlike panic spreading across his face.

“I mean, if you do, that’s totally okay,” he babbles.  “I’d be totally okay with it.  Haru-chan seems really into you, and yeah, he’s a mermaid, but if it can happen in movies and stuff, why not in real life?  He can probably visit a sea witch or something and get himself legs, or get you a tail, if your parents are down with it, and you could visit us at the pier and hang out and go swimming together or whatever it is mermaids do…”  He trails off, laughing nervously.

There’s a moment of silence where Makoto just looks at Nagisa, a little dumbfounded that he’s suddenly talking about this and confused that he hasn’t burst out laughing yet to claim between guffaws that he’s just kidding.  Instead, his face is turning pink, and he looks really uncomfortable.

“Nagisa, I don’t know what you’re trying to ask me,” Makoto confesses.

He opens his mouth, but no words come out, just a steady stream of air as he sighs.  He looks off to the field spreading out next to the sidewalk they’re on, swinging his arms as he says, “I guess what I’m asking is, are you and Haru-chan a thing, and if so, does that mean you’re not into girls?”

He peeks over at Makoto, who splutters, “W-why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious.”

Makoto starts walking again, brushing past Nagisa with hunched shoulders as the latter quickly jumps into action.

“I’m sorry!  Was I offensive?  Do you really like girls?  Are you a tits guy or an ass guy?  I’m _sorry_ – ”

“Nagisa.”  Makoto stops again, and this time Nagisa runs into him and almost knocks them both over.  “I’m not offended,” he says, making sure they make eye contact as Nagisa pulls a panicked face, “But I don’t know why you’re asking me.  Does this have something to do with Rei?”

“What?  No!  No, no, not at all!”  Nagisa’s eyes grow wide, though, as if his nervous titter wasn’t enough of a giveaway.  “I’m just – just looking out for you, my friend, that’s all!  I’m curious about your life!”

“You can’t keep ignoring it like that,” Makoto gently chides.  “I’m sure if you just talked to him – ”

“I can’t!” he exclaims, going from pink to red as Makoto jerks back in surprise.  “I can’t,” he repeats more calmly. “I know that sounds really lame, but I just can’t.”  He kicks the pavement again, and for the first time in all the time Makoto’s known him, he looks forlorn. 

“I’m sorry,” Makoto blurts, reaching out to take Nagisa’s bag in some odd sort of apology, if only because he doesn’t know what else to do.  “I won’t bring it up again.”

Nagisa groans.  “Give that back.”  He takes the plastic bag away from Makoto, practically swiping it out of his hand.  “Haru-chan better like this mackerel,” he grumbles, taking off before Makoto has a chance to reply.

“So you don’t want to talk about it?” he calls after him, jogging to catch up.  “About Rei, I mean,” he adds when Nagisa gives him the stink eye. 

“I _know_ what you meant,” is all he says before he starts walking again.  “Aren’t you worried about poor Haru-chan’s stomach?” he says over his shoulder.  “He’s all alone, waiting for you.”

That makes Makoto’s heart skip a beat, and soon enough he’s hurrying after Nagisa, vowing to himself never to bring up relationships around him or Rei ever again.

**

Haru has his nose in Ran’s manga again when Makoto and Nagisa come back, not even looking up when Nagisa plops his bag down with a clatter.

“Delivery for Haru-chan!” he announces, his voice so loud and cheerful that it makes Makoto wonder just _how_ resilient his friend is.  “One fresh mackerel,” he says, pulling the paper-wrapped fish out with a flourish as Haru peeks out from behind the manga.  “Three things of saba sushi – ” he pulls out three brightly wrapped packages they’d found half-off at the supermarket “ – two cans of pickled mackerel, some grilled mackerel we found a guy selling on the street, and,” he says, looking up at Haru’s  sparkling eyes, “Miso.”

Haru’s face falls.  “That isn’t mackerel.”

“I know, I know,” Nagisa says, holding up a placating hand, “But it is _amazing_ with mackerel.  Trust me.”

Haru looks at Makoto with a face so doubtful he can’t help but snort.  Haru frowns, and Nagisa whirls around with an indignant “Hey!”

Makoto ignores him, kneeling down next to the arrangement Nagisa’s created and fiddling with one of the cans.  “We weren’t sure what kind of mackerel you ate, exactly, so we just got a bunch of different kinds.  And, well,” he glances at the fresh fish, “I mean, I don’t know how you normally eat it, so…”

“It’s fine,” Haru says, the corner of his mouth twitching in what Makoto now recognizes as his version of a casual smile. 

Makoto finds himself pausing, smiling back at Haru until Nagisa pointedly makes too much noise with one of the plastic bags.  “Gee, it’d sure be nice if Mako-chan could bring this miso back all warmed up for us from his kitchen, huh?”  When Makoto guiltily looks over at him, he has a facetious brow raised.  “Don’t you agree, Mako-chan?”

Makoto coughs.  “Uh, yeah.”  He checks his watch, his stomach sinking when he realizes how late it is. 

“Do you have to leave?” Haru asks.

He nods.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“In the meantime,” Nagisa pipes up, “You have me!”

Haru looks at Makoto as if begging to be taken with him.  _I’m sorry_ , he mouths behind Nagisa’s back, chuckling when Haru simply narrows his eyes in response. 

“Okay, Mako-chan,” Nagisa says, shoving a plastic bag containing the miso and fresh mackerel into his hands.  “Off with you!  Haru-chan won’t be my friend if you stick around like this.”

“Is that so?”  Makoto stands up and looks wryly at Haru, who purses his lips.

Nagisa groans, pushing Makoto in the direction of the door.  “ _Ugh_ , Mako-chan, _go_ already!”

“Okay, okay.”  Makoto turns around to give Haru a final encouraging smile before Nagisa forces him into the hallway and shuts the door behind him.

“Bye, Mako-chan!” his muffled voice says, and Makoto can see a hand waving behind the frosted glass.  “Have a good rest of your day!”

Makoto swallows the uneasiness clogging his throat, telling himself that Nagisa will do a perfectly fine job of watching Haru.  He can’t help the small stab of jealousy that sticks itself in his ribs when he hears Nagisa say something in a conspiratorially low tone, though.  He takes a deep breath, tells himself that Haru will be fine.  Nagisa won’t tell Rei, Haru will continue to heal, and Makoto will be able to come back.  There’s no need to worry.

Halfway back to his house, his phone vibrates, and when he opens it up there’s a picture of Nagisa with his arm around Haru, his other hand making a peace sign.  Makoto laughs to himself when he sees Nagisa’s bright wink next to Haru’s deadpan face, feeling a touch of pity for what will no doubt be a hectic day for Haru. 

His mom still has some breakfast waiting for him when he gets home, causing guilt to boil in his stomach as he leans down to give her a peck on the cheek as thanks. 

“I wasn’t sure if you would stay and eat at Nagisa-kun’s,” she explains.  “Did you?”

Makoto smiles and shakes his head, holding up the bag.  “No, we were busy with some shopping.” 

“What kind?”  She puts a hand on his shoulder and gently forces him to sit at the table when he goes to serve himself rice, doing it herself as he looks on with mild exasperation.

“His mom asked us to get a few groceries for her.”

“Well, that’s a bit odd.”  She sets the food down in front of him and runs a soothing hand over his head.  “I’m surprised she trusts Nagisa-kun to get everything she needs.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s because I went with him,” Makoto laughs. 

“And what’s in your bag?” she asks, nodding to what he’d set on the table.

“Oh, well – ”

They’re interrupted by two bodies piling into the room one after the other, shouts of “Onii-chan!” filling the air as Makoto gets surrounded by them.

“Did you have fun last night?” Ren asks, his eyes wide with the secret he didn’t blurt out.

Makoto nods and gives him a grateful pat on the head.  “I did.  It was nice.”

They bombard him with more questions until their mother steps in and tells them to let their brother eat in peace, ushering them into the living room with a sympathetic look back at Makoto.  He smiles in gratitude before shoveling rice into his mouth, not having realized just how hungry he is.  Nagisa had bought them each a bread for breakfast at a convenience store, but it clearly hadn’t been enough.  Remembering that makes him think of Haru again, and he wonders as he scoops himself more rice just how wise it was to leave him with Nagisa.

He shakes his head.  _He’s fine_.

He skirts around the edges of the living room as he makes his way to his bedroom, suddenly exhausted.  He must not have slept well on the floor of the manager’s office, he thinks, smiling to himself and blushing when he considers why that might be the case. 

The twins peek in as soon as he lies down on his bed, and they’re about to withdraw when he says, “No, it’s fine, come in.”  They immediately run to his bed, jumping on top of him as they ask about his night with Haru-chan.

“Was it romantic?” asks Ren.

“Did you guys hold hands?” asks Ran.

“I – well…”  Makoto doesn’t know what to say when he realizes that the answer is _yes_.  “Aren’t you guys worried about how he’s feeling?” he asks instead.

Ren sits back on his heels, his face perplexed.  “Of course he’s feeling better.  Onii-chan is taking care of him.”

“Did he like my manga?” Ran asks, which earns her a glare from Ren. 

“Actually, he did.”

She cheers, and Ren turns his wrath to Makoto, as it it’s his fault. 

“What’s he doing now?” he asks in an obvious attempt to change the subject.  “He’s all alone now, right?”

“Well.”  Makoto sits up, scratching his head.  “He’s with Nagisa.”

“ _Nagisa-chan_?”

“I borrowed his pool for Haru to soak in, and I couldn’t keep it a secret!”  Makoto’s forced to lay down again as the twins pounce on him.

“Nagisa-chan gets to spend the day with Haru-chan and we never get a chance even though we’re your _family_?” Ran asks, bouncing angrily on Makoto’s arm.  “That isn’t fair!”

“Why does Nagisa-chan get special treatment?” Ren moans.

“Guys, guys!”  Makoto puts a stilling hand on each of their shoulders.  “You can see Haru again soon.  But he’s hurt right now, and the only reason Nagisa is with him is because I didn’t want him to be alone while I came home.”

“But why did you come home if Haru-chan needs you?” Ran asks.

“Because Mom will worry about me if I stay away for too long,” he explains, and the two of them nod sagely, as if they had known all along.  “I can’t spend every minute with Haru.”

“Poor Haru-chan,” Ren laments.

“It’s okay,” Makoto assures him.  “He’s tougher than he looks.”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about,” Ren sniffs, but when Makoto asks him what he’s talking about, he simply shakes his head and crosses his arms.  “You don’t deserve to know if you have to ask,” is all he says, and when Makoto turns to Ran for help, she merely nods her head in agreement before looking down to pick at a loose thread on her shorts.

“Stupid,” she mutters with a furrowed brow.  “Stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit early this week! I'm sorry that it's a bit on the short side, but I didn't want it to seem too much like filler.


	13. Chapter 13

Two days later, Rei calls, and he’s livid.

“Makoto-senpai, I can’t _believe_ that you would set me up to be the butt of this kind of prank!” he cries as soon as Makoto picks up.  “What kind of sick joke _is_ this?”

Makoto’s completely taken aback, stammering an excuse of ignorance when he hears Nagisa yelling in the background, “Mako-chan, I’m sorry!  I screwed up!  I’m a horrible friend!  Forgive me!”

 “Rei, what’s going on?” he asks, his stomach sinking as Rei makes an angry, strangled sound.

“What’s going on?” Rei repeats, and Makoto can just imagine the way his nostrils are probably flaring as he makes that incredulous expression of his.  “Nagisa-kun’s telling me that you’ve found a mermaid!  It’s nonsense!”

The breath suddenly disappears from Makoto’s lungs as his stomach falls out of his gut.  “Give the phone to Nagisa,” he says, his voice faint.  “Please.”

“I – what?”

“Give the phone to Nagisa.”

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose while the phone gets handed off.  He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and listens as Rei offers one last snide comment before Nagisa’s voice comes at him in full force.

“Mako-chan, please just listen to me – ”

“What the _hell_ , Nagisa!” Makoto yells, thankful that the twins went to the grocery store with his mother.  “I _told_ you to keep that a secret!”

“I’m sorry!” Nagisa wails, and Makoto hears Rei snap something in the background.  “It just slipped!”

“How does something like that ‘just slip?!’”

“It just _did_ , I don’t _know_ ,” he moans before hissing under his breath, “You _know_ how I get around Rei-chan – ”

“No, _no_ , you are _not_ blaming this on some _stupid_ – ”

“He kept pestering me about it!” he whines.  “I tried to get him to drop it but he _wouldn’t_ and he’s so _persistent_ – ”

“Tell me he hasn’t seen him.”

“N-no… not – not yet…”

“Not _yet_?”

“He won’t believe me unless I give him hard proof!”

“Then let him think you’re making it up!”  Makoto groans and runs a frustrated hand through his hair.  “Just this once, Nagisa, I’m _begging_ you, let it go!  Let Rei think you’re crazy, I don’t care, just _don’t_ take him to Haru – ”  He stops when Nagisa makes a strangled noise.  “Nagisa…”

“We’re kind of… already on our way.”

“ _What_?!”

“I’m sorry!  He made me!”  Makoto hears Rei’s indignant cry of “No, I didn’t!” as Nagisa wails, “I’m so sorry!”

“Nagisa.”  Makoto rubs at his temple as his stomach clenches with panic.  “Where are you guys?”

“On the train…”

“I’ll meet you at the school.  Don’t go in if I’m not there, or I _swear_ – ”

“Okay, okay!  Jeez.”  Makoto can practically hear Nagisa’s grimace.  “We’ll wait for you.”

Makoto sighs.  The last two days had been relatively peaceful, visiting with Haru much like he had before he had been forced to show Nagisa.  They’d discussed Ran’s manga, tried several different types of mackerel, and Makoto had brought a few board games from home that he taught Haru how to play.  He checked and cleaned Haru’s injuries, and when Haru apologized for taking up so much of his time, Makoto had admitted that he rather liked taking care of Haru.

“I don’t know,” he’d said when Haru had asked him to explain.  “It just feels right, somehow.”  Haru looked flustered after that, so he tried to cover it up with, “A-and I take care of my siblings a lot, too.  So I’m used to it.”

“I see.”  Haru was studying his hands when Makoto glanced over at him, and the urge to reach over and take one of them was strong enough to make him sit on both of his own.

“D-do you have siblings?” he’d asked, his heart hesitating in his chest as Haru flicked a glance in his direction.  “I – I mean, if you’re comfortable talking about that,” he added.  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t have any,” he said, looking down again when Makoto let out an involuntary “Oh.”

They were quiet, the sound of one of the showerheads dripping like gunshots in Makoto’s ears.  “I – I’m s–”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he mumbled.  “It’s not your fault.  I don’t mind.”  Makoto felt himself getting swallowed by everything he didn’t know about Haru then, his lungs seizing up when he realized that the most personal thing he knew was his name.  Makoto had already told Haru so much about his life – Haru knew who Rin was, had met Nagisa and the twins, knew that he’d studied in Tokyo earlier in the summer, that he was nervous about entrance exams but eager to be starting a new chapter of his life.  Haru knew that he worried that his mom was still upset about the drowning incident, that he was fond of cats and would probably have one if Ren wasn’t allergic, that he was entertaining the idea of becoming a vet after university.

And yet, all Makoto knew about Haru was his name. 

“What’s wrong?”  Haru’s eyebrows were knit together when Makoto looked over.  “Your face is serious.”

Makoto rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously.  “Nothing, I just… thought it was weird that I don’t really, well, know that much about you,” he said with a nervous laugh. 

“Oh.”  Haru turned back to his hands.  “There isn’t much to know about me,” he said before peeking up at Makoto.  “You’re more interesting, anyway.”

“I – I am?”  Makoto felt his face heat up as Haru gave a curt nod. 

“You are.  I like hearing about your life.” 

Makoto had been too rattled to remain disgruntled for the rest of that day, but as he’s hurrying over to the school with the morning sun already heating the soupy air to a rolling boil, that discontented feeling worms its way back into his chest and sticks his heart like a fishhook.  He resolves to ask more questions of Haru the next time they’re alone as he passes the halfway point.  He decides that he’ll change the pace of their game, for once playing the role of the interviewer while Haru becomes the reluctant interviewee. 

He makes it before Nagisa and Rei arrive, and he gasps a quick thank-you to his lucky stars as his shaking hands fumble with the gate’s lock, his chest heaving and his heart pounding as his struggles to catch his breath.  It finally opens after what feels like more than enough time for the others to show up, and he almost trips when he runs across the concrete surrounding the pool. 

“Haru!”  He bursts into the showers with a panicked gasp, stopping when the mermaid looks up with a small noise.  “I – I had to – tell you – ”

“Wait until you can speak properly,” Haru says, his flat voice almost sounding concerned as Makoto braces a hand against the lockers.

Makoto swallows the urgency clogging his throat.  “Nagisa told Rei about you, and they’re on their way to see you.”

“Okay.”

“I tr- what?”  Makoto nearly bites his tongue in the sudden shift, blinking owlishly at Haru in surprise.  “Okay?”

Haru purses his lips.  “Rei is Makoto’s friend.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Makoto asks, the bottom of his stomach dropping out as Haru gives him a pointed look.

“I don’t mind meeting someone if they’re your friend,” he explains.  “That’s all.”

“I – ”  Makoto’s interrupted, though, by Nagisa, who they can hear outside the locker room.

“Mako-chan isn’t here,” comes his moan.  “I’m sorry, Rei-chan, you’ll have to wait…”

Makoto listens with stiff lungs as Rei sniffs.  “Whatever.  I just don’t see why you’re determined to continue this even though I don’t believe one bit of it.”

“Why won’t you believe me?” Nagisa whines.  “If it was Mako-chan, you’d at least listen to him.”

“Makoto-senpai isn’t full of hot air like you,” is all Rei says before Makoto’s bursting out of the locker rooms with a stiff smile glued onto his face.

“Guys!  Hey!  What’s up!”  He grabs Nagisa and forces him in, gesturing for Rei to follow.  “Come in!”

Rei gives Makoto a weird look, but he follows him nonetheless, prompting Nagisa to complain about favoritism.

“You _said_ to trust Makoto-senpai,” Rei says.  “So I’m trusting him.”

“So not fair,” Nagisa grumbles, but Makoto ignores him, leading them through the lockers until they reach the entrance to the showers.

“Wait here,” he says before poking his head out to warn Haru.  “Are you ready?” he asks.  Haru simply nods, and Makoto swallows his nerves before ushering Nagisa and Rei inside.

“Haru-chan!” Nagisa coos, scurrying over to the pool with his hands clasped together.  “How have you _been_?”

Rei freezes next to Makoto.  “I – h-he has – th-that isn’t – Makoto-senpai!”  Rei turns to him with fear in his eyes.  “It’s real!”

Makoto smiles sadly.  “I’m sorry, but Nagisa was right.”

“B-but – _how_?”

Makoto shrugs.  “I don’t know.  He saved me when I drowned.”

Rei miserably puts his face in his hands.  “Nagisa-kun was right,” he moans.  “Oh, _God_.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Nagisa snaps from the pool.  “That’s rude.”

Rei stumbles closer to the pool, eyes fixated on Haru’s twitching tail.  “It’s – it’s beautiful,” he whispers, hesitantly reaching out a hand as if to touch it but quickly pulling it back. 

“His name is Haru-chan,” Nagisa quips, beaming as Rei turns to him in confusion.

“H-Haru-ch-”

“Haruka,” Haru interjects with a frown aimed at Nagisa.

“ _Haruka_?”  Nagisa turns to Makoto with his mouth in an incredulous ‘o’.  “That’s a girl’s name!  Like us!”  He turns to Rei, grinning.  “He’s one of us!  Do you realize, Rei-chan!  We were all meant to meet!”

Makoto passes a hand over his face in exasperation.  “Nagisa – ”

“And then when Rin-chan comes, it’ll be like – like – like a pentagram of awesomeness!”

“Wait – does Rin-san know?” Rei asks, looking up from Haru’s tail and turning to Makoto.

Nagisa gasps.  “Mako-chan!”

Makoto gives Rei a martyred look.

Nagisa springs up.  “Rin-chan doesn’t know?”  He clings to Makoto’s arm, eyes glittering with this revelation.  “Mako-chan, how could you _do_ that to him?  He worries about you so much!  What is Rin-chan going to do when he finds out you’ve been lying to him, eh?  He’s going to feel so betrayed!  He might cry!”

“Rin always cries,” Makoto grumbles, and Nagisa laughs.

“Rin-chan would be upset to hear you say stuff like that about him,” he says, playfully swinging on Makoto’s arm.   “Rin-chan trusts you and looks to you for guidance, and here you are, Mako-chan, complaining about him!”

“He always complains about me,” Makoto counters, watching Haru out of the corner of his eye as Rei continues to study his tail.  “And can you be quiet about Rin?” he snaps, noticing the way Haru’s eyes are carefully trained on him and Nagisa.

Nagisa notices too, a sly smile creeping across his face.  “Worried about jealousy?” he teases.

Makoto levels him a flat look.  “No.”

Nagisa cackles.  “You so are, oh, my God!” 

“Nagisa-kun, stop being so loud,” Rei chides without looking up.  “We’re in a room that’s predominantly lined with tile.  Your loud guffawing echoes, and, despite what you might think, it’s really unpleasant.”

“Aw, Rei-chan, don’t be like that,” Nagisa pouts.  “You like my laughter.”

“When did I say that?”  Rei’s blushing, and Makoto feels a twinge of sympathy as Nagisa lets go of him and advances toward Rei.

“Oh, cool!” he exclaims.  “Mako-chan, Haru-chan’s healed so much since I last saw him!”

“He has, hasn’t he?”  Makoto kneels down next to Nagisa and smiles at Haru.

“Well, dolphins are known for their incredible healing abilities,” Rei chips in.  “And judging from the appearance of Haruka-san’s tail, I can guess that he possesses some of those abilities, as well.”

“Rei-chan’s so smart,” says Nagisa, and Makoto gives him a nudge with his elbow when he sees the way he’s mooning at Rei.

They stay for a while longer until Rei has to go home and eat with his family, and Nagisa decides to accompany him back on the train.  “So Rei-chan doesn’t get lonely,” he explains, causing Rei to stammer something about not needing a chaperone.

Makoto and Haru watch unsurprised as Nagisa pushes Rei towards the exit, grinning sheepishly as Rei sputters an objection to this behavior.  “Sorry we have to leave so soon,” Nagisa says as he takes a step into the hall.  “We’ll be back again though!”

Makoto doesn’t say anything as they bicker their way out of the door, and when it swings closed, leaving him with Haru, he clears his throat and sits back down.

“So,” Haru says, intently watching his fins flick back and forth.  “Rin-chan worries about you?”

“He – Don’t listen to Nagisa!” Makoto jumps out of his skin as Haru gives him a sidelong glance.

“You haven’t told Rin-chan about me.”

Makoto shifts uncomfortably at the sharp way Haru pronounces the _chan_ , cursing Nagisa for being so damn dramatic.  “No, I haven’t, because he’ll just yell at me for being stupid, because somehow, some part of this… ” he hesitates, peeking at Haru and feeling like a balloon has inflated itself in his throat when he catches a flash of burning blue, “… _thing_ – between us – he would get mad at me for endangering myself, or not thinking about some critical detail, or not considering what it might do to my family in the long run – ”  He stops when Haru suddenly takes one of his hands in his own, the balloon in his throat popping as he feels the breath go out of his lungs.

“You shouldn’t worry so much about what Rin might say,” he mumbles, studying their entwined fingers as he gives Makoto’s hand a squeeze.  “You did a good thing by helping me.  So thank you.”

“H-Haru – do you really mean that?”

Haru nods, not moving his gaze from their hands.  “I appreciate what you’ve done for me.”

The balloon swells again, and Makoto feels like he’s about to cry.  “You’re welcome, Haru.”

**

“So, Rei-chan, what’d you think of Haru-chan?” Nagisa asks through a mouthful of noodles.

Rei gives him a pointed look before daintily dabbing at his mouth with a napkin.  “I think Haruka-san is extremely fascinating.”  He shifts his gaze to Makoto.  “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to come by again and get a better look at his tail.”

Makoto doesn’t really know what to say, so he just nods as he quickly shoves some noodles into his mouth.  “Mm-hm,” he hums around the food. 

It’s the next day, and Nagisa had arrived unannounced at Makoto’s house to offer lunch as recompense for spilling the beans to Rei.  “It’s the only thing I can think of,” he’d admitted, but Makoto had taken him up on his offer, not surprised in the least when Rei showed up at the restaurant Nagisa had chosen.  All he had done was shoot Nagisa a knowing look, to which Nagisa had offered a sheepish laugh.

“I wanna have another sleepover with Haru-chan,” Nagisa pouts, looking at Makoto with big eyes as the latter swallows.

“Okay?” he says, taking a sip of his tea.  “Why are you asking me for permission?”

“Because you’re Haru-chan’s guardian,” Nagisa says, rolling his eyes like it’s the most obvious thing.  He turns to Rei.  “Does Rei-chan want to, too?”

“I’ll pass,” Rei says.  “I don’t think being locked in the school’s pool house with you for a whole night would be a good idea.”

“Aw, come on!”

“No,” Rei snaps.  “You’ll do something awful to me, I’m sure!”

“I would _never_ ,” Nagisa gasps.  “You – ”

“Guys, calm down,” Makoto chides.  “Nagisa, you can spend the night later.  Haru needs to rest so he can finish healing.”

“You’re so maternal, Mako-chan,” Nagisa giggles.  “Are you going to read him bedtime stories too?”

“No,” is all Makoto says, and he turns back to his noodles as Nagisa goes off on all the ways Makoto could coddle Haru, referencing how he deals with the twins and the peacekeeper role he plays between his two friends, and Makoto lets him, only heaving a weary sigh as he and Rei share long-suffering looks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do something about Nagisa and Rei soon, I promise!


	14. Chapter 14

Makoto follows up on his promise to the twins to visit Haru the next day, telling their mother he’s taking them to the park as they pile up at the door.

“Why is Ran wearing a swim suit?” she asks.

“Um.”  Makoto watches as Ran freezes in the middle of pulling on her cover-up, her eyes wide like she’s been caught in the middle of a heinous crime.  “I told them we might end up going to the pool, too,” he says.  “So Ran decided to get a head start, I guess.”

“Did you pack sunscreen?”

“No…” he admits, and she makes them wait while she runs to fetch it from the kitchen. 

“Why’d you have to say that?” Ran grumbles, pulling at the ends of her cover-up in frustration.  “It’s not like we’re gonna need it.”

“She doesn’t know that,” he quietly reminds her as their mother returns, a relieved smile on her face.

“I’m glad I remembered to ask,” she says, handing the bottle to Makoto.  “Do you remember that awful sunburn you got the first time you and Rin-kun went to the beach on your own?”

“That was five years ago,” Makoto protests. 

“Still, it made you cry,” she says with a gentle smile as the twins burst into a fit of giggles.  “Have fun!”

Makoto quickly ushers the twins out of the door as they continue snickering at him, Ran giggling, “Did onii-chan really cry?”

“Let’s go see Haru,” he mumbles before urging them to be careful going down the steps. 

Haru has a board game laid out when Makoto leads the twins into the showers, flicking his fins in deep thought as he considers the layout of the pieces.  “Are you playing yourself?” Makoto asks, and Haru all but falls out of the pool in surprise at his voice.  “I’m sorry!” Makoto cries as the twins burst into fresh fits of giggles, running over to help Haru get himself back into a sitting position.  “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Haru says, blinking at Makoto with a somewhat dazed expression.  “You surprised me, that’s all.”

“I’m s-”  Makoto stops talking when he realizes that he’d sat down in the puddle that formed when Haru sloshed water over the side of the pool.  “Oh, no.”

“Onii-chan’s all wet!” Ren crows, and Ran laughs, running up to the edge of the puddle and stopping.

“How embarrassing,” she notes, unable to suppress a satisfied grin from spreading across her face.

Makoto sighs as goose bumps break out across his arms, his backside freezing when he stands up.

“Your _pants_ , onii-chan!” 

Makoto groans, and when he looks over at Haru, he’s surprised to see a smile on his face.

“Not you, too,” he groans, but his pained expression goes blank when Haru lets out a small laugh.  “Haru?”

“I’m sorry,” the mermaid mumbles, ducking his face down to hide.  “It was just – the twins – ”

“Should we leave?” Ran asks Ren, and when Makoto turns to her, she has her arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked.

“What?” asks Ren.

“Onii-chan and Haru-chan look like Mom and Dad do when they’re about to kiss,” she explains, and he gasps.

“We gotta get out of here!”

“Guys, calm down,” Makoto sighs, stepping out of the puddle and chasing Ran away, her delighted shrieks echoing around the tiled room.

“Get away from me, you’re all wet!”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Onii-chan’s!”

Makoto grabs her and squeezes her to his chest as she wriggles madly in an attempt to break free.  “Ren! Help!”

Ren ignores her, though, cautiously approaching Haru with a question on his face.  Makoto can’t hear him over Ran’s laughter as he blows a raspberry at the junction of her neck and shoulder and makes her scream.  When he glances over at them, Haru’s face has gone bright pink, and Ren looks like he’s offering a rapid stream of apologies.

“What’s going on?” he asks, letting Ran go and sitting up straight.

“N-nothing!” Ren says, clapping a his hands to his cheeks and shaking his head.

“Haru?”

“He just – it was about being a mermaid.”

Makoto lets it drop after Haru sinks into the pool in an effort to call less attention to himself.  Whatever Ren had wanted to know about mermaids must’ve been pretty embarrassing, he thinks, watching Ren mumble something to Ran with a glance in his direction.  Ran makes a shocked face, but Makoto doesn’t pry, instead getting up to go to the manager’s office to see if he might have a spare pair of pants in the overnight bag he’d left after his first night taking care of Haru.

**

He lets Nagisa sleep over at the pool house that night, offering to stay with them when he greets him at the gate and feeling disgruntled when Nagisa immediately shoots him down.

“If you’re around, Haru-chan won’t want to talk to me,” he explains with a pout.

“What?  Don’t be stu-”

“You’re not allowed,” he says.  “End of discussion.”

Makoto frowns through the chain link fence before pulling the gate open.  “That’s mean.”

Nagisa scoffs.  “Soon enough you’ll have Rin-chan to keep you occupied,” he says, waving a dismissive hand. 

Makoto groans as he walks past.  “Do you have to remind me?”

“Isn’t he coming in a few days?” Nagisa asks, stopping at the edge of the pool and looking back at Makoto.  “What are you going to do when he shows up?”

Makoto shrugs.  “I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“You’re going to tell him, right?” he asks.

Makoto fidgets.  “I don’t know,” he admits.  “Part of me doesn’t want to, because he’s only here for a few days and I don’t want to ruin his visit, but another part of me realizes that it doesn’t make a lot of sense trying to keep it a secret, especially since he’s staying at my house.”

Nagisa snorts.  “Did you really think you’d be able to sneak out while Rin-chan’s sleeping on your futon?”

“Not… not really…”  Makoto’s eyes narrow as Nagisa starts laughing in earnest.  “I don’t know what I thought!”

“Poor Rin-chan,” Nagisa says, wiping one of his eyes.  “He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.”

“I feel bad that this is happening right as he’s flying over,” Makoto says, coming over to the pool and looking down at the water.  “He’s going to want to do all of this stuff with me, and I can’t spend too much time doing that stuff because I need to take care of Haru.  He’s going to resent that a lot.”

“He’s going to be so bitter,” Nagisa chuckles.

“At least he’s traveling with his mom and Gou-chan pretty soon,” Makoto mumbles.  “I’d feel awful if he was staying at my house for the whole two weeks he’s here.”

“Well, don’t spend all of your time worrying about it, Mako-chan,” Nagisa says, and when Makoto looks up, he’s smiling.  “Otherwise you won’t have any time for fun.”

Makoto smiles back, touched.  “Thanks.”

“Okay, now get out of here!” Nagisa says, giving Makoto a half-hearted push in the gate’s direction.  “I’ve got the whole evening planned for Haru-chan!”

“What?  Already?”  Makoto feels a little panicked as Nagisa continues to shoo him away.

“Yeah, already!  Go watch anime with the terror twins!  Leave Haru-chan to me!”

“The sun isn’t even down yet!”

“Oh, my God, _go_ , Mako-chan!”

Makoto nearly falls as he’s pushed through the gate, and Nagisa slams it closed, slamming it again when it springs back at him.  “Close the lock, I can’t do it from this side,” he says, his face remaining serious even as Makoto gives him a pointed look.

It’s almost laughable when Rin calls almost as soon as he gets home, and Makoto tells him, “I was just talking about you, you know.”

“Can’t stop thinking about me, huh?”

Makoto frowns.  “No.  That’s not it at all.”

Rin scoffs.  “Whatever.  Fine.  See if I care.”

“Are you excited for your visit?” Makoto asks, trying to change the subject.

“Fuck yeah,” Rin says.  “I can’t wait to breathe in that thick, humid Japanese summer.  I’m sick of winter.”

“Oh, yeah,” Makoto says.  “It’s winter over there, isn’t it?”

“Oh, my God.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been, well,” Makoto hesitates, his throat getting tight as if it’s trying to restrain the words that are lining up to come out.  “I’ve been kind of preoccupied with stuff.  I’ve been busy.”

“You, busy.”

“Well!” Makoto cringes at the way his voice has gone so obviously high.  “I don’t really know how else to explain it.”

“Is it university stuff?” Rin asks.  “Makoto, are you killing yourself over something that’s _still_ several months away?”

Makoto doesn’t say anything, _can’t_ say anything as he swallows what he had been prepared to share.  In all the time Rin had been in Australia, he’d never felt that far away.  There had always been plenty of ways of staying in touch, and Rin has always been a phone call or video chat away.  The distance had never felt like an impediment, something to overcome, but rather just a fact of life.  Rin was Makoto’s best friend, and he just happened to be on a different continent.  

But now, as he thinks of the mermaid soaking in the locker room of the defunct swim club, Rin feels so much farther than an ocean away.  There’s so much Makoto can tell him, so much that he _wants_ to tell him, but even as he tries, the words stick in his throat like jagged pieces of plastic. 

_I’ve actually been busy with a mermaid, you see_ –

_I have something fantastic to tell you –_

_You’ll never believe –_

_I want to share this with you so badly –_

_If you could only see –_

Makoto takes a deep breath and swallows it all until it’s trapped in his stomach as a dull ache.  “Yeah,” he says, his voice far thicker than he’d like it to be.  “I’ve already started studying for entrance exams.  You caught me.”

“Don’t hurt yourself this time,” he says, and Makoto hears him switch ears.  “My flight’s the day after tomorrow.  Don’t you dare die before I get over there.”

“Don’t worry,” Makoto mumbles, not daring to speak much louder.  “I’ll stay safe.”

**

“So how was your second sleepover with Nagisa?” he asks Haru the next day as he checks his fin.  It’s almost healed completely, the white scar tissue still soft under his finger.

“Busy,” is all Haru says, peeking up at Makoto and allowing the corner of his mouth to twitch up when he hears the snort his response elicits.

“I don’t know what else you’d expect from Nagisa,” he says. 

“Is something happening with Rin?”

Makoto jerks as if he’s been electrocuted, glancing guiltily at Haru.  “You heard?  Yesterday?”

Haru nods.

“Really?”  Makoto gapes.  “Your hearing’s that good?”

A shrug.  “I guess.”

“Wow.”  Makoto turns back to the fin in his hands, takes a deep breath.  “I mean.  He’s visiting.  He’s arriving tomorrow.”

“You’re nervous.”

“I’m unsure.”  He looks at Haru with big eyes.  “I don’t know what to do.”

“He doesn’t know about me.”

“He would have freaked out,” Makoto protests.  “He wouldn’t have believed me, and then when you got hurt he would’ve worried about what I was doing, and it would’ve been too much.  _He’s_ too much,” he adds, a little bitterly, if he’s being honest.  “He thinks I have some kind of martyr syndrome, and I’m positive he would have found a way to ascribe this to that.”

Haru wrinkles his nose.  “I don’t like that.”

Makoto chuckles.  “I know you don’t.”

“Too fussy.”

“ _Rin’s_ fussy?” Makoto asks, incredulous.  “Who won’t eat mackerel unless it’s fresh?”

Haru sticks his nose in the air and sniffs.  “I don’t like the way you humans try to preserve it.  It tastes wrong.”

“Uh huh.”  He gently flicks Haru’s fin.  “Right.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Are you okay in the pool?” He asks as Haru begins to shift uncomfortably.

He makes a noncommittal noise.  “You try being in the same spot for several days.”

“Do you want to get out?”

“And where would I go,” he says in as deadpan a voice as Makoto’s ever heard, his eyes as flat as his tone when he levels him with a look.  “Down to the beach?”

“I could carry you to the pool later,” he offers, ignoring the jab.  “When it’s dark out.”

“I don’t want to swim in your gross water.”

Makoto sighs, pursing his lips.  “Then I guess it’s just a shame you can’t stretch yourself out properly,” he says, peeking at Haru’s downturned mouth.  “I think it’d be pretty nice for you to be able to move around, but if the chlorine’s that offensive to you, then…”  He shrugs.  “That’s just too bad.”  When he shifts his gaze to Haru’s eyes, they’re shining, and he can’t help the smile that melts across his features. 

**

There’s no moon that night as Makoto carries Haru out of the locker room, the only light coming from the lamps lining the street nearby.  Makoto’s grateful for the shrubbery lining the chain link perimeter, relieved that he doesn’t have to worry about any passerby seeing Haru’s tail glisten in the light reflecting from the pool’s surface.

“It stinks,” he grumbles, clinging tighter to Makoto as they near its edge.

“Hush.  You’ll be happy soon.”

“No, I won’t.”

Makoto doesn’t reply as he kneels down, careful not to lose his balance as Haru hugs his neck more closely.  “It’s alright,” he murmurs, entirely too conscious of the way Haru has buried his face into his shoulder, his hair warm against his neck.  “I’m going to lower you in now.”

Haru’s grip tightens, and he almost loses his balance.

“Haru, please, I can’t – I’m going to fall in if you don’t let go.”

“Good.”

“ _Haru_ – ”

There’s a splash, everything goes dark, and Makoto can’t breathe as Haru lets go of him and he struggles to get his feet solidly underneath him.  He flails his arms around, bubbles flooding out of his mouth, chlorine stinging his eyes when he opens them in a last-ditch effort to gain some kind of control.  One of his feet manages to scrape against the bottom, but it’s slipping out from underneath him too soon and he tumbles back, his lungs burning, aching, throbbing as they’re deprived of the air they need.  His throat locks up and he’s choking, the memories from that day hitting him like a bullet train as he remembers the tide and its iron grip on his legs, the horrifying rush of water around his head, into his nose, his mouth, his _lungs_ , his every cell screaming for oxygen that was never going to come, his eyes clouding over with darkness as something soft and solid circled his chest –

His head breaks the surface of the pool, and he sucks in a breath like a newborn child that’s choking on its mother’s fluids.

_Makoto –_

He’s kicking his feet, his arms flapping madly as he tries to keep his head above the dark water, away from whatever it was that had been keeping him submerged.  He can feel it snaking its way around his ankles, preparing to tighten its grip and pull him down into depths beyond the concrete confines of the pool.  He cries out, the water flooding his ears and making him deaf as the sky circles above him, the distant stars wholly apathetic to the wheezing sounds of what could be his imminent death.  There’s something pressing against his back, preventing him from escaping as he thrashes about, desperate for a substantial breath of air.

“Makoto!”

His feet find the shallow end as Haru gently leans him against the side of the pool, the rough edge the most comforting thing he’s ever felt as he closes his eyes and leans his head against it.  His heart feels like it’s trying to burst out of his chest, throwing itself against his sternum with what feels like enough force to smash a window open.

“Makoto.”  Haru’s voice is fragile in Makoto’s ears, and he furrows his brow as something light – his hand, he realizes – brushes against his temple.  “Makoto.”

“Haru…”

Something presses against his lips, and he almost seizes up in panic before realizing it’s just a kiss, his eyes opening to see Haru’s squeezed tight, his hands cool on his cheeks and his lips as still as a frightened rabbit, too afraid to move lest something catastrophic happen.

It lasts forever, and yet Haru pulls away far too quickly, his eyes remaining downcast as Makoto gapes stupidly.

“I’m so sorry,” Haru whispers.  “I didn’t know – ”

“It’s okay, Haru,” Makoto says, smiling weakly when Haru looks up in surprise.  “Thank you.”

“I made you fall in – ”

“You saved me.  Again.”  Makoto’s hand cups Haru’s cheek, his thumb stroking the patch of skin under his eye.  “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“You don’t have to.”  Haru’s kissing him again then, and he gasps when his lips start moving against his, his hand threading through the wet hair at the nape of his neck as a shiver shudders down his spine.  Haru sighs, his breath curling into Makoto’s mouth in a way that makes his heart stop as hands move to cup his jaw, holding him still as Haru propels himself closer with a flick of his tail.  He sighs again, his breath fanning out across Makoto’s face and causing a blush to flare up as his fingers tighten, his fins curling around Makoto’s legs and pulling him closer until their chests are flush against each other and Makoto realizes that Haru’s heart is pounding just as frantically as his own.

“H-Haru – ”

He doesn’t manage to get anything else out, Haru muffling his words as he presses even closer, his eyelashes brushing the sensitive skin under his eyes.   

Makoto pulls back, desperate for air, and he can’t help but smile when Haru chases after him with his eyes half-open.

“Haru,” he repeats.

“What.”  Haru’s frowning, his nose wrinkled as he traces a finger over the swollen skin of Makoto’s lips.

“You should really swim around.”

“Don’t want to,” he mumbles, leaning in and brushing his nose against Makoto’s.  His tail curls closer, and he sucks in a breath as their bodies press tighter.

“Please.”  Makoto’s never going to forgive himself if this turns into an embarrassment for him.  “You need to stretch.”

Haru heaves a put-out sigh.  “Fine.”  He unwinds his tail and lets go of Makoto’s neck.  “If you insist.”

Makoto breathes a quiet sigh of relief as Haru dives away with a huff, sinking further into the water and hoping it’ll cool him off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What could _possibly_ be so embarrassing Makoto. What.
> 
> Also, all I can think of rn is the music from Jaws accompanying Rin's imminent arrival I'm so sorry


	15. Chapter 15

That night he dreams of sweet water and surging kisses, of fins wrapping around his limbs as the darkness inside the water shrinks away, the murky gray giving way to a more crystalline blue.  He dreams that he’s suspended in the ocean’s depths, perfectly still, the silence of it pressing in on him until something wraps itself around his chest and squeezes.  It squeezes until his lungs are empty and the only thing keeping him alive is the mouth that is suddenly filling him up with air, like he’s a balloon meant to float into the sky, popping once it reaches the far heights of the atmosphere.  Feathers brush against his temples until he realizes they’re fingers, but they’re gone long before he musters up the energy to search for their source.  When he looks around, there’s nothing but empty water and his orange watch, which he finds floating a few feet to his left.

His mother wakes him up much later with a hand to his forehead and a frown furrowing her brow.  “Are you feeling well?” she murmurs, her hand cool against his heated skin.

Makoto groans, rolling away from her and onto his side.  “Mom, ‘M fine.  Fine.”

“It’s nearly noon, and you’re still in bed.  Rin-kun’s supposed to arrive at nine tonight, and the house is a mess, and your forehead is _burning_ , Makoto – ”

“Mom, mom, it’s okay,” he mumbles, rolling onto his back to squint up at her.  “I’m not sick.”

“Then how – ”

“I was just sleeping with my face pressed into my pillow earlier, that’s all.”  He closes his eyes and sighs, snuggling deeper into his blankets.  He’d been up until four keeping Haru company, and after he’d walked home and changed it was closer to five by the time he fell onto his bed exhausted. 

“We’re cleaning the house today,” his mother says, patting his cheek and standing up.  “You’ve got a long list of things to do.”

He squeezes his eyes shut.  “Can you give me a few minutes, please?”

“Your father’s already making lunch, so you should get up before you miss that as well as breakfast.”

Makoto moans as she walks out, leaving the door open so him can hear the twins’ anime playing downstairs.  He throws an arm over his eyes, letting his lips flap together in a sloppy sigh as he stretches his legs out, his knees popping in satisfaction.  He sits up, blinks a few times, runs a hand through his spiky hair.  He touches his lips, thinking about his dream, and then Haru, and then he has to lie back down in order to fight the blush suddenly blooming across his cheeks.    

He’s yawning when he shuffles into the kitchen and the twins cry out in celebration at their brother’s arrival.  They spring from the couch and crowd around him, competing over whose head he gets to muss first.

“Why did you sleep so late?” Ran asks, pouting when Ren elbows her out of the way and triumphantly has his head patted absently by Makoto.

“Were you with Haru-chan?” he whispers, his eyes wide with pride for his ability to keep their secret quiet.

“I was,” Makoto says with a smile, reaching for Ran’s head now.  “We went swimming in the pool at school.”

“You _did_?” Ren gasps.

“No fair!” Ran whines.  “I wanna swim with Haru-chan!”

Makoto quickly shushes her as their father calls from the stove, “Are you all okay over there?”

“Yeah!” Makoto says, shooting Ran a scolding glare as she pouts.  “Ran just told me that she wants to go swimming soon.”

“You can go swimming after Rin-kun arrives, Ran-chan,” their father says with a laugh at his daughter’s impatience.  “I’m sure it’ll be more fun that way, too.”

Ran’s pout deepens, and she crosses her arms.  “I don’t _want_ to swim with Rin-chan, do I?” she grumbles.

 _Poor Rin_ , Makoto thinks, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on Rin’s sudden drop in popularity as the twins tug him into the living room, demanding he watch the game show that’s just come on.

“Onii-chan has chores to do,” he protests weakly.

“Mom said you can start them after lunch,” Ran says with a dismissive tilt of the head. 

The game show they watch is funny, with the contestants answering questions and competing in outrageous challenges.  Ran and Ren fall over each other laughing when one unfortunate lady gets knocked over by a giant inflated cactus to the butt, and Makoto catches himself chuckling a bit, as well. 

Then lunch is ready, and then Makoto gets put to work cleaning the bathroom and washing sheets and vacuuming and dusting and setting up the futon in his room while his mother takes the twins out to see a movie that had just come out.  “That isn’t fair,” he groans as they line up at the door while their mother hooks her purse over her shoulder.  “I wanted to see that movie too!”

“We’re having a guest over, honey,” she says, smiling despite the look of despair on her son’s face.  “And he’s _your_ guest, and you’re almost an adult.  It’s a good opportunity for you to learn how to do this stuff for when you live on your own.”

“That is a weak excuse for not wanting to do it yourself,” he says, and she just gives him a wink.

“I want at least half of that list completed by the time we get back.”

Makoto feels like he’s going to drown in chores when he contemplates the list in his hand.  It makes him wish he hadn’t gotten so involved in that game of Risk with Haru last night, but he takes a deep breath and gets to work while his father announces that he’s going to his office to work and stay out of Makoto’s way.

“And it’ll give you an excuse to slack off a bit,” he adds with a smile.  Makoto isn’t exactly sure what to say as he, too, leaves through the front door, and he heaves a heavy sigh as he listens to his father’s footsteps disappear down the pathway to the steps.

**

He’s exhausted by the time the list is completed at seven that evening, collapsing onto the living room couch with a groan he makes sure is loud enough to carry to wherever his mother had settled after she and the twins had returned from their movie.

“Finished?” she asks from her bedroom.

“Ready for inspection,” he jokes.

She comes into the room, stopping behind the back of the couch and gently running a hand through his hair.  “You worked really hard today.  Thank you,” she says.

“Did you and the twins enjoy the movie?”

She nods.  “You would’ve liked it, too.  I’m sorry I made you do everything,” she adds with a grimace.  “I just thought, since you’ll be on your own after you graduate, that it would be a good idea if – ”

“Mom, it’s okay,” Makoto says, smiling up at her.  “I understand what you were thinking.”

“Thank you.”

Not long after that, Rin calls, announcing that his plane has landed and telling Makoto which train he’s going to take to Iwatobi.

“Are you ready for this?” he asks after he finishes.  “Are you excited?”

Makoto shrugs before he realizes Rin can’t see him.  “Yeah,” he says.  “I guess.”

“Gee, Mako, try reining in your enthusiasm a bit, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Rin deadpans, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I’m sorry!  I’m excited, really, I am,” Makoto promises.  “I’m just exhausted from all the chores my mom gave me.”

“That woman sure knows how to work you,” Rin says.  “I’m impressed.”

“Please be quiet.”

**

He manages to sneak in a visit with Haru before Rin’s train arrives, claiming to his parents that he wants to go for a walk and eventually pick up some Pocari Sweat for Rin.  He’s really surprised when he hears Rei’s voice echoing around the locker room when he opens the door to it, his heart nearly stopping when he doesn’t immediately recognize it.

“Makoto-senpai,” Rei says, almost falling over in his hurry to stand up as soon as Makoto coughs awkwardly to announce his presence.

“What are you doing here?” Makoto asks, genuinely confused.

Rei flushes bright pink and adjusts his glasses.  “I – I was just in the area shopping for school supplies, and I thought I might stop in and say hello since Haruka-san must get bored being stuck in here all the time.”

“Oh,” Makoto says.  “Okay.”  He points a thumb over his shoulder.  “Should I go?”

“No!” Rei sputters as Haru’s eyes grow wide in consternation.  “I – I mean, there’s no reason you should…”

“Well, if you were talking to Haru, I don’t want to interrupt – ”

“Rei said it’s fine,” Haru says, and when Makoto turns to him, he’s frowning.  “Stay.”

“Well, I have to leave soon, anyway,” he says with an apologetic smile.  “I’m picking up Rin from the train station at nine.”

“You must be excited to see him again,” Rei says.

Makoto smiles, but even he can tell it’s a little stiff.  “Yeah.”

Rei glances back to Haru, then, and notices the tightness of his mouth.  “Actually, I think I’ve asked Haruka-san enough questions for one day,” he suddenly says, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.  “I’ll see you later.”

“What – are you sure?”

“My parents are probably expecting me to be home soon,” Rei says, already passing Makoto and entering the hallway.  “I should really catch the next train.”

Makoto doesn’t have a chance to say anything in response as he hurries out the door, letting it shut loudly behind him. 

“I – I’m sorry,” he says to Haru, who’s looking at him as if he’s just suggested they steal candy from a small child.

“It’s not your fault,” Haru mumbles, looking down at his hands in his lap.

“Has Rei come by before?” Makoto asks as he sits exactly where Rei had been when he walked in.  “To talk to you,” he clarifies.

“Just once,” says Haru.  “He’s really curious.”

Makoto chuckles, leaning back on his hands.  “Yeah, he is.”

“When Rin arrives,” Hary says, peeking at Makoto from the corner of his eyes, “Are you going to stop seeing me?”

“What?”  Makoto sits up.  “Why would I?”

“You’re afraid to tell him about me.”

“I’m not,” Makoto insists, reaching out to take Haru’s hand.  “I promise.”

Haru squeezes their fingers together.  “Fine.”

**

Rin’s waiting for him when he runs up to the train station, his head lolling back in boredom as he looks up at the sky.

“Rin!  I’m so sorry!”

“Oh, there you are!” Rin says, glaring at Makoto as he stops in front of him, bracing his hands against his knees as he tries to catch his breath.  “You finally decided to show up, huh?”

“Please stop,” Makoto huffs, scowling up at Rin.  “I got held up at the convenience store, okay?” he says, and he holds up the bag of Pocari Sweat he’d stood in line for nearly twenty minutes at a packed shop to purchase. 

Rin’s eyes light up as his mouth goes slack in surprise.  “Makoto… thanks…”

Makoto stands up, then, and pulls Rin into a tight hug.

“Welcome back,” he says into his shoulder, unable to wipe the grin from his face when Rin pulls back.

“You’re late because of fucking Pocari Sweat,” Rin says, shaking his head in disbelief.

“It’s your favorite,” Makoto replies, his smile falling slightly.

“Dude, I know.”  Rin grins before putting an arm around his shoulder and leading him down the sidewalk.  “Let’s just go back to casa Tachibana, alright?”

“So your Spanish has been going well, then?”

“Fuck off.”

**

The twins all but explode when Rin walks through the door, hopping onto him and dragging him onto the floor before he even has time to put his bags down. 

“Geez, you guys are huge!” he yells from beneath them, grunting as he puts on a show about attempting to lift Ren off of him.  “You weigh a ton!”

“Guys, get off of Rin,” Makoto says, nudging them with his foot.  “He hasn’t even said – ”

“Give it a rest, Mako,” Rin says as Ran rolls him around in order to get his attention.  “You’ll never win.”

Makoto sighs as his parents come into the hallway, his mother calling out an emphatic greeting as his father simply smiles.  Eventually, they manage to get the twins off of Rin enough that he can stand up, and then he’s being led into the kitchen, where his mother had saved a portion of their dinner.

“Oh, God, you didn’t have to do that…”  Rin looks like he’s going to cry as Ren and Ran guide him to one of the chairs at the table.  They complain when their mother makes them leave the kitchen so Rin can eat in peace, though, leaving Makoto to sit across from him with a juice box.

“Really?” Rin says when he returns from the fridge with it.  “What are you, nine?”

“It’s my favorite flavor,” Makoto protests.

He laughs through the bite of rice he just took.  “You’re still such a child.”

Makoto ignores the jab, instead opting to ask which video game he wants to play after he’s finished eating.  They spend the rest of the night doing only that, and the twins join for a while, until their mother comes in and makes them go to bed before offering a tired goodnight of her own.

Rin doesn’t shut up the whole time they’re playing the shooting game he’d picked, rattling off everything he can think of that he hasn’t already told Makoto over the phone.  He complains about the captain of his school’s swim team, how he almost wouldn’t let Rin participate in the medley relay in the upcoming meet because of an incident involving cats (“I was just feeding them and they fucking gave me detention and then Cooper thought I should learn a lesson for having some fucking compassion”); he complains about his roommate, another Japanese boy named Aichirou who apparently doesn’t know how to clean their room (“Fucking food wrappers and shit everywhere, it’s disgusting, and I keep _telling_ him we’re going to get ants”); and he complains about his upcoming trip with his mother and sister:

“I mean, I tell them I want to go to Kyoto, right?  I haven’t been there in fucking forever, and Mom was all, ‘Yeah, sure, we can totally go there, no problem,’ and then what does she do?  She books a trip to fucking Hokkaido.  Like, I don’t want to visit the damn countryside and go fishing!  And I _know_ Gou doesn’t want to, either, holy shit.”  He viciously jabs at a button on his controller for emphasis.  “ _Hokkaido_ , Makoto!  _Who_ ever wants to go to Hokkaido besides old people?”

“I’m sure she just wanted a quiet place where she could enjoy having you around,” Makoto says in what he hopes is a placating tone as Rin gives another emphatic jab at his poor controller.  “Maybe she thought Kyoto would be too busy.”

“Yeah, right,” he says, scowling at the TV.  “She just wanted to go there herself, probably.”

“You know that’s not true.”

He groans, falling back onto the futon as his character gets killed.  “Fuck.  Fine.  She’s not being selfish, I know.  It was probably cheaper than the city.”  He looks up at Makoto, who’s perched on the edge of his bed.  “Are you okay?” he asks.

Makoto looks down at him with a frown.  “What?”

“Since you puffed your way up to me at the train station, you’ve looked like someone stuffed drugs up your asshole and you’re about to walk through airport security.”  He ignores Makoto’s scandalized cry as he says, “What’s going on.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Makoto asks, thinking about Haru and knowing what he’s inevitably going to have to do.  He can hear how unnaturally high his voice sounds, but he tries to swallow his nerves, saying, “I’m totally fine.”

“Bullshit,” Rin says, his face angry even though Makoto knows he’s only concerned. “And you know it.”

Makoto huffs.  He can’t escape.  “Fine.  Okay.  I – ” His speech dissolves into a groan as he puts his hands over his face and falls back onto his pillows.  “I can’t tell you!”

“What?”  Rin gasps.  “No, no way – ”

“You’re not going to believe me!” he whines.

Rin smacks his foot.  Hard.  “You can’t not tell me now, not after you’ve said that!”

“Can we wait until morning?” he asks pathetically, peeking out from under a hand.

“ _No_ ,” Rin says.  “ _Fuck_ no.  You are _not_ doing this.”

“Why did you _ask_?”

“Just tell me!”

“I can’t!”

A pillow hits Makoto in the head.  “Fucking tell me!”

“Ow!”

“That didn’t hurt, and you know it!”

Makoto squeezes his eyes shut, hiding from Rin’s glare and swallowing the poisonous nerves blocking his throat.

“I found a mermaid,” he says, his voice cracking midway through the sentence.

A moment passes where nothing happens except the hum of the A/C unit in Makoto’s window.  Finally, Rin bites out, “What.”

Makoto’s mouth works uselessly as he sits up.  “I – when I drowned – it was – I actually – ”

Rin’s face is equal parts incredulous and pissed when Makoto finally works up the courage to look at him.  “A mermaid,” he says.  “Like Ariel, from Disney.”

Makoto grimaces.  “Well…”

“What?”

He closes his eyes.  “She’s… more of a he…”

“A merdude.”

“Yes?”

“Oh, my God.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really meant to have Rin meet Haru in this chapter, but I just... got carried away. Ha.
> 
> And bonus Nitori! I found a way to fit him in :^)


	16. Chapter 16

Rin stands up.  “We’re going.”

“ _What_?”

He steps off of the futon and stops in front of the door.  “Show me.”

“Rin, it’s _one in the morning_ – ”

“You think I’m going to be able to sleep when you’re telling me you’ve found _The Little Mermaid_ ’s brother?”

“He isn’t – ”

Rin sighs through his nose, closing his eyes.  “Please, Mako.  Just show me.  As your best friend, I am asking you to share this with me.”

Makoto gapes speechlessly, mouth open like a grouper’s. 

Rin opens his eyes.  “Dude, please.  I need to see this.”

“B-but – _now_?”  He can’t help but remember what happened the last time he saw Haru after the sun had gone down, how warm he had felt despite the cool temperature of the pool water, how Haru’s mouth had tasted faintly of mackerel, how it had felt when his muscular tail tangled itself in his legs –

“ _Yes_ , now!” Rin hisses, interrupting Makoto’s reverie.  “Why _not_ now?”

Makoto blinks and pushes whatever thoughts of Haru’s tongue he’d had floating around his brain away as Rin looks at him expectantly.  “I don’t know,” he says, anger bubbling up into the back of his mouth like foaming salt water as he comes back to the conversation.  “Maybe it’s because there are four other people in this house who are _sleeping_ and who might wake up if we go bumbling past their doors!”

Rin scoffs.  “Ran and Ren are farther down the hall from the stairs than we are.  And your parents aren’t anywhere near the front door.”

“Why do you know the layout of my house so thoroughly,” Makoto sighs, defeated as he places his hands on his hips and looks down at his feet.  “It’s weird.  It’s honestly weird.”

“Well fuck you,” Rin says, miffed.

Makoto sighs again, resting a hand against his forehead.  “You’re not going to drop this, are you?”

Rin plants his hands firmly on his hips.  “Nope.”

Makoto screws up his mouth as if he’s in pain and chokes out, “Fine.”  He squeezes his eyes shut.  “Let’s go.”

Rin snorts a quick chuckle, clapping Makoto on the shoulder as he walks past him.  “Knew you’d give in.”

**

It’s easy getting out of the house, a fact that Rin refuses to let go as they clump their way down the stairs.

“Your family are such deep sleepers, too,” he says, bouncing a hand along the top of a garden wall as they walk by.  “I’m constantly flabbergasted that you don’t sneak out to do shit more often.”

“Maybe that’s because I don’t actually want to do that kind of stuff,” Makoto counters.  “Maybe I’m actually tired at one in the morning, and I want to go to bed.”

“God, you’re boring,” Rin sighs, turning to Makoto with a doleful look.

“I’m not boring,” he protests.

“If I had stayed here, you would have had a much more exciting time in school.”

“If you’re implying that I would have snuck out with you more often, you’re wrong.”

Rin scoffs.  “You would really deny me this kind of fun?”

“I only sneak out when you visit because your being here isn’t a regular occurrence,” Makoto says, watching his feet as they round a corner.  “You’re not around to hang out with every day, so when you _are_ here, well…”  He shrugs.  “I have more of a reason to go along with it.  If you were around all the time, I’d probably just ignore you and go to bed.”

“I’d throw rocks at your window,” Rin says.  “To wake you up.”  Makoto makes a pained face in response, and Rin scowls.  “What?”

Makoto bites his lip, looking out at the black ocean across the street.  “That sounds exactly like the kind of stuff Nagisa says when he tries to make it seem like we secretly like each other, you know.  And now you’re just putting the words right into his mouth.”

“What the fuck is wrong with throwing rocks at your friend’s window?” Rin asks, holding his arms up in exasperation.  “You think I’m trying to orchestrate some kind of late night booty call?  I just want to fucking eat ramen, okay?”

“I know,” Makoto says patiently.  “But to other people, it probably looks like – ”

Rin pushes his shoulder, sending him stumbling into the empty road.  He’s grinning when Makoto looks at him, surprised and a more than a little angry that he decided to do that.

“Why’d you push me?” he snaps, glaring as Rin snorts.

“Who the fuck cares what someone else thinks about what we do?” Rin asks with a practiced quirk of his brow.  “You’re my best friend, I’m your best friend, and Nagisa’s a punk ass shit who’s probably just projecting a bunch of suppressed feelings onto us.  No surprise there.”

Makoto stops walking to frown at Rin’s back.  “W-what’d you say about Nagisa?”

Rin turns around, annoyed.  “How far away is this damn merdude, anyway?”

Makoto shakes his head.  “No, what’d you say about Nagisa?”

Rin heaves a sigh, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweat pants and throwing his head back to contemplate the party cloudy sky.  “You know and I know that that kid has something going on.  That’s all.”  He tilts his head down to level a look at Makoto.  “I haven’t seen him since I was here for New Year’s, though, so for all I know, he’s gotten a lot better.”  He purses his lips, studies Makoto for a moment, and says, “But based on your face right now, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that he’s only gotten worse.”

“You have no idea,” Makoto breathes, hanging his head as Rin lets out a cackle that’s way too loud for the streets of Iwatobi in the early morning. 

“Okay, okay,” he laughs, walking over to Makoto and patting him on the shoulder to straighten up.  “Let’s go see Ariel.”

“He isn’t Ariel.”

“And you’re not Prince Eric,” he laughs, giving Makoto a gentle push forward.

**

“Really?” Rin says when Makoto stops in front of the gate to the school’s pool.  “Here?”

“I didn’t know where else to take him,” Makoto snaps, irritation rising as Rin rolls his eyes.

“ _Okay_ ,” he hisses, and Makoto shoots him a glare in response.

He tries to be quiet as he jimmies open the door to the locker room in case Haru has already fallen asleep, and Rin scoffs when he puts a finger to his mouth to remind him to shut up.  He doesn’t say anything as Makoto leads him down the hall to the showers, though, and they pause in front of the frosted glass of the door.  Makoto’s about to put his finger to his lips again when Rin irately smacks his hand away from his face with a glare.  “I _know_ ,” he hisses. 

“Wait here,” Makoto whispers, earning a fresh scowl from Rin as he puts his hand on the doorknob.  “I don’t want to scare him,” he explains.

“No shit.”

“Shut up.”

He holds up a hand to signal to Rin to wait, not breaking eye contact until Rin finally – impatiently – nods.  He nods in return before turning to the door and slowly twisting the knob, easing it open and wincing when it creaks a bit.

“Don’t wake him up,” Rin whispers in a rude mockery of Makoto’s careful warning.  Makoto tosses a glare over his shoulder before returning his attention to the door.  When it’s opened enough, he sticks his head through to peek in, and he lets out a huge shriek when Haru’s eyes immediately meet his.

“What is it?” Rin cries, pulling Makoto away from the door and surging forward himself, jerking to an abrupt stop when he makes out the tail trailing its fins out from the edges of the inflatable pool. 

He’s quiet, and Makoto watches with a mingled sense of curiosity and panic as his face slowly morphs from shock to disbelief.

“Mako…”  He reaches out blindly behind him for Makoto, who obligingly offers an arm for him to grab onto for support.  “Y-you weren’t kidding.”

Makoto yanks his arm away.  “You thought I was kidding?”

Rin turns to him, still gaping.  He closes his mouth, puffs out his cheeks as he struggles for words.  “I mean,” he says, letting out a bunch of air helplessly.  “I wasn’t _sure_ , it was such a weird thing to _say_ , I thought it might’ve been code for something – ”

“You thought it was _code_ for something?”

“But I went with it!” Rin yells, holding out his hands in supplication.  “I went along with it, I wasn’t an asshole about it, be cool, Mako, it’s cool–”

“What the hell!” Makoto cries.  “Why would I ever make something like this up?  Don’t you think I’d think of something better than a _mermaid_?”

“You know what,” Rin says, his voice back to a normal volume as he points an acknowledging finger in Makoto’s direction, “That’s very true.  That’s a very good point.”

“You’re horrible,” is all Makoto says.

“What!”  Rin looks back to Haru, who’s watching them with a frown.  “Don’t say that in front of the mermaid!”

“His name is Haru,” Makoto snaps. 

Rin puts an apologetic hand to his chest.  “Well, my bad, Makoto, I wasn’t aware of that fact.”

Makoto exhales noisily through his nose, but he doesn’t say anything in return, instead opting to go to the light switch and flip it into the “On” position.  He walks past Rin and kneels down next to Haru.  “Hey,” he says, smiling when Haru’s blank gaze meets his own.  “Did we wake you up?”

“No,” he says, punctuating it with a blink.

“Oh, okay.”  He clears his throat, completely conscious of Rin watching.  “Th-that’s good, then.” 

He stands back up, gesturing to Rin.  “Haru,” he says, wincing slightly when he realizes he’s using the voice reserved for explaining things to the twins.  “This is Rin, my best friend since elementary school.”  He looks to Rin, and whatever courage he’d been able to muster starts to flag.  “Rin, th-this is Haru, my – who I found.  Or, well,” he falters, “I guess I should say _he_ found _me_ , since I was kind of unconscious and, well, he _saved_ me – ”

Rin waves a hand.  “I get it, save yourself whatever dignity you have left.”

Makoto purses his lips.  “Thanks.”  He quickly shifts to a smile aimed at Haru.  “Rin couldn’t wait to meet you,” he explains.

“You were quick in telling him,” Haru observes.

Makoto grimaces.  “I know.  He sort of just kept at it until I caved and brought him here.”

Haru’s eyes flick from Makoto to Rin, and his eyebrows draw together infinitesimally.  “He pressured you to do it?” he asks.

“No, he – ”

“He looks smug about it,” he says, and he doesn’t flinch when Rin gasps indignantly.

“W-what have _I_ done?” he sputters, looking between Makoto and Haru.  “What the fuck have you been telling him?”

“I haven’t said anything!” Makoto says.  He kneels down beside Haru, holding on to the side of the pool as he leans in.  “What are you doing?” he asks.

Haru turns to him with big, innocent eyes.  “Why are his teeth so weird?”

Makoto’s speechless as Rin let out a cry of disbelief.

“Are you fucking _kidding_ me?”

**

Makoto manages to diffuse the situation when he suggests that Haru go for a swim in the pool again, and the mermaid eagerly agrees.  He clings tightly to Makoto when he lifts him out of the pool, and Makoto can’t shake the feeling that something odd is happening as he carries Haru past Rin and out of the showering area.  It isn’t until he’s helped Haru slide into the pool and he settles down next to Rin that he notices the offended expression on his face.  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

Rin stays quiet for a moment, causing Makoto to grow concerned until he waves a hand, his face falling as he sighs.  “It’s nothing,” he says, watching Haru float serenely across the deep end. 

“Are you sure?”

“He kept _staring_ at me the whole time we were on our way over here,” he snaps, throwing a glare in Haru’s direction.

“What?”

“I don’t know, it was like he was trying to tell me something.”  Rin goes quiet, his face screwed up until he makes an indignant noise.  “What the fuck.”

“ _What_?”

“Nope, no, it’s nothing,” he says, waving Makoto’s persistent questioning away.  “I’m just overreacting.  Tell me how this happened,” he says with a gesture aimed towards Haru.

Makoto gives up, knowing just how stubborn Rin can be.  He watches the steady undulation of Haru’s fins, and shrugs.  “A day or so after I got back from Tokyo, I thought it’d be a good idea to go swimming, since I hadn’t had many chances to work out during the university program,” he says.  “When I went out, though, this tide just grabbed me and, it dragged me under the water like I was nothing.  I couldn’t do anything except let it carry me farther and farther away from the shore until my lungs eventually gave out.”  He looks away from Haru to face Rin.  “I really did drown,” he says. “Like, inhaling water and filling my lungs up and suffocating.”

“ _Dude_ – ”

“I passed out, obviously, but…”  Makoto bites his lip, unsure of what, exactly, to say.  He’s never actually described what had happened to anyone before, and now that he’s remembering it, he realizes why as his lungs begin to feel stiff, as if they’re remembering the shock of water weighing them down instead of air.  He swallows the panic brought on by the memory, though, remembering Haru.  “Right before everything went dark, I felt something come up behind me, and I passed out thinking that it was the evil thing that I’d always believed had lived in the water.  You remember, right?” he asks, smiling as Rin shakes his head with a faint scoff.

“Yeah.”

“But what was weird about it was that, when it happened, when something was closing in around my chest, I wasn’t scared.  I should’ve been scared – I had been terrified, actually, but only up until the point where I realized I wasn’t alone.”  He shrugs when he notices Rin’s confused look.  “I dunno, it was just… comforting.  It wasn’t scary.”

“But you didn’t know it was Haru,” Rin points out.

“I know,” Makoto says.  “But I can’t help how I felt, alright?  Anyway,” he continues, “I woke up I don’t know how much later, and I was on the sand, and water was gushing out of me like I was a fountain, and then I opened my eyes and saw Haru.  And then I saw his tail.”

“Did you freak out?” Rin asks, his voice implying his guess.

“Y-yeah…”  Rin lets out a laugh.  “But I went back later that night and saw him again!  That’s when I got sick.”

“I’m still mad at you for that,” Rin says, but the smile doesn’t leave his face despite his harsh tone.  “Fuck you.”

“I’m sorry that I made you worry,” Makoto mumbles, looking down at his lap.  “But I just – I had to see him.  I don’t know.”

“Why is he here, then?”

“There was a lot of rain about a week ago, and I found him under the pier, and he was injured, so I took him up here.  But now that he’s almost healed, I’m going to have to carry him back.  Probably in a day or two.”

“It’s like that movie,” Rin says.  “With the killer whale and shit.”  Makoto gives him a confused look as he snaps his fingers thinking of the name.  “Fuck, what’s it – it’s – _Free Willy_!” he says, his smile dimming when Makoto only raises an eyebrow.  “What?”

“Haru isn’t a whale.”

Rin spits out a laugh, doubling over and making Makoto worry about him falling into the pool. 

“Rin don’t – it wasn’t that funny!” he cries, smacking Rin’s shoulder as his friend starts to cackle in earnest. 

“Makoto, are you okay?” Haru asks, and Makoto has no idea when, exactly, he had swum over. 

“I – I’m fine,” he stammers, and he hopes neither Haru nor Rin can tell how tight his stomach has twisted or how fast his heart has started to pound.  “I – I just – ”

“I’m not _harming_ him, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” Rin sniffs.

Haru bristles at that, but Makoto quickly intervenes before he has a chance to bite back any kind of retort.  “We were just messing around, Haru,” he explains, smiling sheepishly at the deep frown on Haru’s face.  “Rin’s the kind of friend that likes to make fun of his friends.  It’s his way of showing affection.”

“That’s a stupid way of showing affection, if all it does is upset you,” Haru says.

“What the – ”

“I know, I know,” Makoto says, flinging a restraining arm across Rin’s chest as his friend leans forward to counter with something rude.  “It’s just a thing humans do a lot of the time.”

Haru wrinkles his nose.  “Then humans are weird.”

Makoto just laughs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT is Makoto going to do with these two?


	17. Chapter 17

One day later, Makoto and Rin find themselves slumped in front of the school pool’s gate at four in the morning, waiting for Nagisa and Rei.

“Remind me again,” Rin grumbles under his breath, “ _Why_ , exactly, we’re doing this?”

“Nagisa thought it would be a good idea to take Haru back early in the morning so he can spend the whole day getting used to the seawater again,” Makoto explains in a mumble.  He can barely open his eyes, and the rusted chain link fence feels like it’s about to give under his weight as he uses it for support.

Half an hour earlier, Makoto and Rin had found themselves waking up to a flurry of messages, all of them from Nagisa.

“What the fuck,” Rin’s groggy grumble rose from his spot on the futon, and Makoto could hear him moving around as his phone continued to vibrate.  “What the _fuck_.”

Makoto groaned, ignoring Rin and squinting at the too-bright screen.  “Are you reading these?” he’d asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

His only answer was a muffled yell and a string of violent cursing.

“He owes me breakfast,” Rin says after they’ve been waiting for twenty minutes, his head lolling against the fence next to Makoto.  “Fuck.”

Makoto slides down until he’s crouching on the sidewalk, resting his head in his hands.  “Can’t we just go back to my house and sleep?” he asks.

“Fuck no,” Rin says.  “That little bastard is paying for this.”

“Rin, don’t – ”

“Ah, Mako-chan, Rin-chan!  I’m sorry we’re late!”  Nagisa waves to them as he runs up the sidewalk, a bleary-looking Rei trailing behind him.  Neither Makoto nor Rin are surprised to see his jogging attire, though, both of them certain that he only agreed to this because it would allow him time for a run. 

“Of course Nagisa’s fresh as a fucking daisy,” Rin grumbles, scowling at Nagisa as he comes to a stop in front of them.

Nagisa grabs onto Rin’s arm and sways playfully.  “Aw, Rin-chan, don’t be so grumpy,” he chides.  “This’ll be fun!”

“How is anything about this fun?” Rin snaps.

“Rin, stop being so harsh on Nagisa,” Makoto mumbles, not moving his face from his hands.

Nagisa laughs.  “Leave it to Mako-chan to get all parental with Rin-chan.”

“Shouldn’t we go see Haruka-san?” Rei asks, and Makoto groggily looks up from his hands.  “I mean, before everyone’s going to work.”

Rin launches himself off of the fence and looks down at Makoto.  “Need some help?”

Makoto doesn’t do anything except hum something that sounds affirmative.

Haru is surprised, to say the least, when all four of the boys pile into the shower area with Makoto trailing along miserably in the back.  “What’s going on?” he asks when Nagisa hops up to the pool and takes his hands with a cheer.  “Makoto?”

“Let go of Haru, Nagisa.”  Makoto gently takes Haru’s hands out of Nagisa’s, earning a pout from the latter.

“Are you ready to go back?” he asks Haru, smiling as he kneels down next to the pool.

The mermaid frowns.  “What?”

“You’ve healed,” he explains, and Haru’s confusion melts into understanding.  “It’s time for you to get out of this dinky little pool.”

“I said it was jank, didn’t I?” Nagisa pipes up.

Rin groans.  “Oh, my God, Nagisa, don’t say _jank_.”

“But it’s a funny word!”

Rin just makes a strangled noise, coming up next to Makoto and crouching down next to him.  “Can we _please_ get out of here?”

Makoto’s put in charge of carrying Haru after they towel him off, and he feels very conscious of the other three boys when Haru presses his face into his neck once he’s hoisted him up.  Nagisa coos, Rei adjusts his glasses, and Rin simply scoffs, to which Haru responds with a quiet huff of his own that sends a chill down Makoto’s back, despite the warmth of his breath.

He follows the other three out of the locker room and all the way to the beach, stopping periodically to catch his breath.

“Sorry,” Haru mumbles, blinking, his lashes tickling Makoto’s skin.

“No, you’re fine,” Makoto huffs, and he breathes a quick laugh when Haru leans away from him so he can see his frown.

“You’re lying.”

“It’s _fine_ ,” he insists, and after looking ahead to make sure no one can see, he pushes forward to press a quick kiss to Haru’s lips.  The mermaid stiffens, and when Makoto pulls away, he notices a blush creeping across Haru’s cheeks.  “Sorry,” he murmurs, ducking his head down to hide his grimace.  “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s fine,” Haru parrots, a twinkle in his eye despite the deadpan expression on his face. 

“Hey!  You two!”  Makoto nearly drops Haru as Nagisa’s shout reaches them, but Haru’s hold around his neck tightens as his tail starts to slip out of his arms.

“Sorry,” Makoto mumbles, and Haru simply presses his forehead to Makoto’s shoulder in embarrassment.

“Hurry the fuck up,” Rin snaps from farther up.  “I’m hungry.”

Makoto hears a tetchy noise come from Haru, and he shakes his head, smiling despite himself.  He follows the other boys down to the water, stopping right before the waves can touch his toes.  A gust of a breeze suddenly appears, blowing his hair across his forehead and filling his nose with salty humidity that has a tang of nostalgia.  It makes him remember all the times he’s visited this beach, how much he feels at home on this packed sand with the rickety pier a hundred meters off.  He looks down at the top of Haru’s head and wonders if he feels the same way, if this stretch of ocean has been his home as long as it’s been Makoto’s, or if this is brand new territory, the only thing keeping him tethered Makoto himself.

Haru looks up at Makoto, the movement of his head catching Makoto’s eye and breaking his train of thought.  “What?” he asks, his voice rough and awkward.

“Nagisa asked you a question.”

“Wha – ”

“Mako-chan, did you want to say a few words before we let Haru-chan go?”  Nagisa asks.  Everyone’s looking at Makoto with expectant faces, and he can feel an embarrassed blush creeping up his neck.

“W-why would I do that?  You sound like Haru’s died,” Makoto says, distressed.

Rin rolls his eyes.  “Just put him in the water, Mako.”

Haru’s arms twitch around Makoto’s neck. 

“Haru?”

“I hope the sun rises as Haru swims out into the water,” Nagisa says, dreamily watching the horizon.  “I think that’d be beautiful.”  Makoto catches the peek he aims at Rei, who reacts with a slight smile that makes Nagisa break out into a triumphant grin.

“You’ll come back, right?” Makoto murmurs, pulling his head back to look down at Haru. 

The mermaid nods.  “Of course.”

“Okay.”  Makoto adjusts his grip on Haru and takes a step into the waves.  “We’re going in.”

“Wait!  Haru-chan needs to swim out into the sunrise!”  Nagisa hurries over to Makoto, splashing through the water and waving his hands. 

Makoto pauses, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed.  “The whole point of this was so we wouldn’t run into anyone,” he says.

“Well, yeah, but it’d be so pretty!”  Nagisa forces a laugh, and Makoto can hear Rin suppress a groan.

“It’s okay,” Haru says, looking at Nagisa.  “I think I would prefer to go now.”

Nagisa’s face falls.  “Aw, why?”

Haru shifts in Makoto’s arms.  “I think it’s just better if I get back into the water.  It gets uncomfortable when I’m out of it for too long.”

“Haru!”  Makoto looks down at him in shock.  “You should have said something!”

“I didn’t want to be more of a burden than I already have been to you,” Haru mumbles, looking down at the hollow of Makoto’s throat.

Makoto swallows, touched that Haru would try to be considerate but also worried that he thinks of himself as a _burden_.  “Haru – you’re not – ”

Haru looks up, meets Makoto’s eyes.  “I will see you again soon.”

“Why do you sound as if you’re leaving?”

He looks down, his eyebrows pulling together.  “I’m not.”

Makoto leans in closer, anxious for eye contact.  “Promise me.”

He finds blue, and it’s stubborn.  “I promise.”

“Can we hurry this up?” Rin asks.

Makoto jumps, moving his eyes away from Haru’s lips, where they had come to rest.  “Y-yeah!  Yeah, we can.”  He takes a few more steps into the water until it’s starting to wet the bottom of his shorts.  “I can’t go any farther,” he mumbles apologetically.  “I don’t want to get my pants wet.”

Haru sucks in his lips as if he’s trying to prevent a smile from forming on his face, and Makoto lets out a quick laugh.

“I guess you can put me down now,” Haru says.  “Your friends are waiting.”

“Right.  Let me just – ”  Makoto shifts Haru so he’s sitting in his arms rather than laying down, and as he bends down to slide Haru into the water, a wave hits him from the front, catching him off-balance and forcing him to fall back.  Haru follows, still clinging to his neck, and he lands on top of him, his weight forcing Makoto down even further into the water.

Makoto gets a nose full of water and it stings like nothing else, but it’s nothing like the panic he had a few nights ago when he fell into the pool, so he’s surprised when Haru grabs his shoulders and jerks him out of the water, his name loud on his lips.

He spits and he sputters, his eyes stinging and his sinuses aching from the salt as Haru blurrily fills his field of vision.  “H-Haru – ”  Haru cuts him off with his lips, his fingers shaking as they continue their death-tight grip on his shoulders.  Makoto’s eyes fly open at the sudden display of affection, and his lips are stiff and awkward against Haru’s soft and expectant press. 

Haru’s fingers loosen their grip, and he pulls away, confusion pulling at his eyebrows.  “What – ”

“Makoto-senpai!”

“Mako-chan!”

“Makoto!”

They’re gathered at the water’s edge, but neither of them look willing to wade in to save their friend when Makoto manages to turn around, a conveniently timed wave helping him move.  “You guys go on without me,” he calls, waving a hand to urge them away.  “I need to go home and change.  I’ll catch up with you later.”

All three of them hesitate, but Nagisa’s the first to capitulate.  “Alright, we’ll go.  Rin-chan’s hungry, anyway,” he says, flashing a smile at Rin, who simply scowls.

“You’re going to get sick again,” he snaps, crossing his arms with a huff.  “You need to get out of there now.”

“I’ll get out soon enough,” Makoto replies.  “Just let me make sure Haru’s okay.”

“The hell does he need checking up on?” Rin cries.  “He fell on you!”

“Rin, just go,” Makoto says, meeting his eyes.

“I know a good place to go for breakfast that’s close by,” Rei pipes up.  “I found it last night online after Nagisa-kun suggested this plan.”

Nagisa takes Rin’s hands in his.  “Come on, Rin-chan!  Rei-chan always picks the best places.”

Rin hesitates, looking at Makoto for guidance but only receiving a pointed look that’s met with a scowl.  Makoto sees him mutter a word under his breath before following Nagisa and Rei up the beach, leaving Makoto and Haru sitting in the surf.

“I’m sorry,” Haru says, bringing Makoto’s attention away from the retreating backs of his friends.  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“H – what?”  Makoto squints in confusion for a moment before he realizes.  “Oh – _oh_ , you mean – oh, Haru, that didn’t – ”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Haru says, looking down at his lap.  “I just got scared because I remembered the last time I made you fall in – ”

“Haru.”  Makoto cups his cheek, reassuring him with a smile when he jumps out of surprise.  “It’s okay that you panicked,” he says.  “It was an accident, and it wasn’t your fault, and I’m just glad that you were able to heal after all that stuff happened to you.”  He leans forward until their foreheads touch, his hand moving to cradle the nape of his neck.  “I’m glad that you don’t have to sit in an empty locker room in an old inflatable pool.”

“Yeah, but – ”

“I can come back every day,” Makoto promises.  “Later today, even.  I don’t have to bring Rin, either, since you don’t seem to like him all that much.”  His smile widens, and Haru shifts his eyes away with a huff.  “Would you like that, though?” he asks.

Haru looks back at him, his eyes serious.  “Of course I would,” he says, his voice brooking no room for any alternatives.

“Good.”  Makoto feels a weight lift from his chest, and his lungs feel like they’ve been released from constraints. 

Haru gently pulls away from Makoto, though, and Makoto’s heart drops just a little bit.  “You should go,” he says, nudging his arm reluctantly.  “Your friends are waiting.”

Makoto’s about to protest when he notices the sudden lightening of the sky, and he goes quiet, watching the horizon as it turns pink. 

“The sunrise,” he breathes.

“What?”  Haru turns around, and his eyes go wide when he sees the orange tip of the sun peek out.  They watch together in silence, the water still pushing its way around them as the sun inches upward and infuses the air with light until it’s glowing.  Makoto looks to Haru, who’s watching the watercolor spread of pinks and yellows with an expression Makoto can’t read.  Without thinking, he takes Haru’s hand, and Haru jumps, relaxing when he sees the gentle smile gracing Makoto’s face.

“It’s too bad Nagisa isn’t around to see this, huh?” Makoto asks, squeezing Haru’s hand when he snorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things look like they're going back to normal, huh?


	18. Chapter 18

His friends already have food in front of them when he walks into the Western-style diner Rei had picked after getting showered and changed at home.  Nagisa is almost finished with his food as Rin and Rei pick at their plates, and a mildly disgusted expression tugs on Rin’s face as he watches Nagisa usher Makoto over with a sausage hanging out of his mouth. 

He waves Makoto into the seat across from him.  “Rin-chan ordered for you!” he says, gesturing to the plate of pancakes at Rin’s elbow.

“You didn’t – ”

Rin pushes the pancakes his way.  “Shut up and eat.  My treat.”

Makoto hesitantly picks up a fork.  “Are you sure?”

Rin levels him a look.  “Just eat them.”

He obediently takes a bite, and Nagisa asks, “So is kissing a regular thing between you and Haru-chan?”

He chokes on the pancake, holding onto the edge of the table for dear life as Rin pounds his back and yells at Nagisa to keep his damn mouth shut.  “You’re killing him!” he hisses, baring his teeth across the table.  “You’re actually killing him!”

“Sorry, sorry!”  Nagisa lets out a sheepish laugh as Makoto rubs at his watering eyes.  “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah, _that’s_ a surprise,” Rin mutters with a roll of his eyes.   

“You shouldn’t ask such personal questions without fair warning,” Rei sniffs, adjusting his glasses.

“I’m _sorry_ ,” says Nagisa.  “But really, what was that?” he asks, leaning across the table to study Makoto’s face. 

“Nagisa, back _off_ ,” Rin says.

Makoto waves him away.  “No, it’s – ”

“Don’t let him bully you into talking about it!”

“He isn’t,” Makoto says, sternly catching Rin’s eye.  He turns to Nagisa apologetically.  “I don’t really know myself, actually,” he admits.  “It’s just kind of… happened once or twice.” _Or three or four times_.  “That’s all.”

“That’s all?”  Nagisa’s eyes are round as marbles.  “That means he likes you!”

“He doesn’t – ” Makoto stops himself when Nagisa’s face begins to shift into a knowing smirk.  “It could just be a mermaid thing.”  He looks down at the food on his plate.  “He probably doesn’t mean it the way you’re thinking.”

Nagisa snorts.  “Are you sure about that?”

“Nagisa, shut up,” Rin snaps.  “He doesn’t know, okay?  Just drop it.  Finish your damn food.”

He tries to pipe up with something, but Rin silences him with a final glare while Rei tentatively brings up a different subject.  Makoto doesn’t listen to the conversation that follows, though, instead fixated on what Nagisa had said. 

 _He likes you!_  

 _Did_ Haru like him?  He remembers the pearl, the way Haru had so reverently held his drowned watch, the way Haru always seemed to bury his face into his neck when he was carried.  But Haru was always just curious about the human world, and for the past two weeks he’s been recovering from a scary injury, so Makoto doesn’t blame him for seeking security as he’s carried out of the only home he’s known.  Makoto had been his only friend, the only person he could rely on.  Perhaps kissing was just his way of thanking him – it’s not like he would know how humans thanked other humans. 

They haven’t known each other for very long, only a few weeks.  He can’t.

Rin notices how preoccupied Makoto’s become, but he doesn’t say anything until they’ve parted from Nagisa and Rei.  “What’s up?” he asks, nudging Makoto with an elbow.  “You look gloomy.  It’s weird.”

Makoto shrugs, watching his feet as they pass over the sidewalk.  “Nagisa’s comment just made me think, that’s all.”

Rin squints at him.  “What, the thing about octopus ink?  Don’t believe him, he doesn’t know anything.”

“Octopus ink?”  Makoto frowns.  “No.”

Rin’s face goes blank.  “Shit, you’re stuck on the thing with Haru, aren’t you?”

Makoto makes a pained expression.  “Is it that bad?” he asks.

Rin sighs.  “I don’t know.  Do you – you know – ”

“What.”

He screws up his face.  “You’re really going to make me say it?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Oh, my _God_ ,” he groans, throwing his head back in despair.  “Do you _like_ Haru?”

Makoto stops walking.  “What?”

Rin stamps his foot in frustration.  “It’s not a difficult question!”

Makoto rests a thoughtful finger on his chin.  “I don’t… I never really thought about it like that…”

“Are you _serious_?”

“I never tried to articulate it into words!” Makoto cries.

Rin smears a hand over his face.  “Holy shit.”

Makoto starts walking again, and Rin falls into step beside him as he says, “I just never really _thought_ that any of it, well, _meant_ anything like that.”  He shakes his head and shuts his eyes.  “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Okay,” Rin says with a heavy sigh.  “I’ll drop it, too.”

“Thank you.”

“But do you have any idea what the hell is going on between Nagisa and Rei?”

Makoto jumps as if he’s been electrocuted.  “You noticed, too?”

Rin gapes.  “So it’s not just me.”

“They’ve been like this since I got back from Tokyo,” Makoto explains, relief washing over him as he absorbs the fact that he isn’t alone in his concern for his friends.  “And I’ve tried asking them about it, but every time I do, they avoid me.  Especially Nagisa.”

“Yeah, well, we’re doing something about it,” Rin says.  “Because they were fucking unbearable.”

Makoto laughs.  “Good luck with that.”

Rin runs a hand through his hair.  “But, I mean, have they even admitted it to themselves?  Rei looked like he was going to fucking cry when Nagisa tugged on his arm to make him sit next to him.  Like, I felt bad for the guy,” he says, putting his hand over his heart.  “And I don’t feel bad for people, Mako.” 

“He looked like he wanted to _cry_?” Makoto asks, eyebrows raised.

He tilts his head, conceding, “Okay, that might’ve been a slight exaggeration.  But he definitely looked torn up about it.”

Makoto remembers running into Rei at the aquarium, and the panic he had witnessed when he’d brought up the subject.  He distinctly remembers the way Rei had all but shrieked when he’d heard the twins’ cry of “Rei-chan,” how he’d sunk onto the bench.

He almost brings it up, but the image of Rei adjusting his glasses with a shaking finger stills his tongue.  Instead, he says, “Nagisa gets really moody every time I bring Rei up when it’s just us.  He’ll ask me if I’m trying to ruin his day, or whatever.”

Rin scoffs.  “He’s so melodramatic, sheesh.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Oi!”

**

They re-enter the Tachibana household to the sound of a morning variety show, and as soon as they’re past the entrance, the twins come hurtling out of the living room and mercilessly tackle Rin to the ground.

“Rin-chan’s back!”

“We missed you!”

“Where were you?”

“Guys, guys,” Rin laughs, pushing weakly against Ren as he flops down on top of his stomach.  “Let me up, we only just got back.”

Makoto’s mother appears in the doorway.  “How was breakfast?”

Makoto walks past the dog pile and affectionately pats her shoulder.  “It was good.  Rin paid for it.”

“How were Rei-kun and Nagisa-kun?”

“They were… fine,” Makoto says, smiling to cover up the fact that he hesitated.  “Just their normal selves.”

She pats his chest.  “Good.  I’m glad to hear that.”

She lets him go, then, and he heads for the couch, where Rin has once again become the twins’ plaything.

“Onii- _chan_ ,” Ran whines as she hangs from his neck.  “Where did you guys _go_ this morning?  Ren got up to pee and saw that your room was empty.”

“How did he know that?” Makoto asks.  He always keeps his door closed at night, unless –

“Your door was just hanging open,” Ren says, blinking owlishly.  “Which I thought was weird, since onii-chan always sleeps with it shut.”

“Rin…”

Rin tilts his head back until he’s looking up at Makoto.  “Whoops,” he ways, letting out a sheepish laugh.

“So where’d you guys go?” Ren asks.

“Was it to see Ha – ” Ran’s eyes go wide as she stops mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open stupidly.  “I mean,” she lamely corrects “to exercise?”

Makoto sighs.  “It’s okay, Ran.  I told Rin.”

Ren lets out a huge sigh of relief while Ran gasps in outrage.  “You told him!”

“You told them?” Rin asks, equally outraged.  “What the hell, Mako?”

“What did you do with Haru-chan?” Ren asks.

“We took him back to the ocean,” Makoto explains.

Ran mouth puckers into a pout.  “Aw, why?  We wanted to see him again!”

Ren’s eyes go big.  “We can’t see him anymore?”

“No, you can,” Makoto says, worriedly waving his hands, as if to dispel their anxiety.  “It’s not like he’s leaving or anything!”

“Ugh, whatever,” Ran moans, flopping down on top of Ren in Rin’s lap and forcing him onto the floor.  He yelps, and Makoto quickly chastises her.  “ _Sorry_!” she says, sounding so much like Rin that Makoto decides that he’s spent enough time imparting his bad behavior onto his younger siblings.  He tugs on Rin’s arm.

“Let’s go,” he says, suddenly getting an idea.  “I have something I need to show you.”

“Okay?”  Rin gently nudges Ran off of him, much to her displeasure.  “I _know_ onii-chan’s being annoying right now,” he says, sharing a smile with her, “but he’s bigger than me, so I gotta go along with what he says, you know?”

She nods in understanding.  “True.”

Rin follows him upstairs, a confused look on his face.  “Dude, what’s up?” he asks when Makoto quietly closes his bedroom door behind him. 

“It goes back to what you were asking me earlier,” Makoto says.

Rin hesitates.  “Y-you mean – ”

Makoto goes to his desk, opens the drawer, and reaches into the back, pulling out the pearl that he had wrapped in tissue.  “You asked me if I liked Haru,” he says, carefully peeling the tissue back.  “But I think I’d rather know if Haru, well,” he swallows, “likes _me_.”

“What.”

He cradles the tissue in his hand, holding it out for Rin to see.  “He gave me this.  What do you think it means?”

Rin stumbles back, landing on his butt on the futon.  “Holy shit!” he blurts, looking up at Makoto in shock.  “That thing is huge!”

“Be quiet!” Makoto hisses, and his hand clenches into a fist around the pearl.

“What the fuck?” Rin says, sitting up.  “He _gave_ that to you?  Just, for no reason.”

“I don’t _think_ there was a reason,” Makoto hedges.  “Nagisa brought up Haru wanting to make me his concubine when he first found out, but he never saw this, so…”

“You’re really doubting whether or not he likes you?” Rin says with a dubious quirk of his brow.  “With _that_ in your room?”

“Maybe he finds them all the time!  Like if you bought a Pocari Sweat for me.”

“Bullshit,” Rin says.  He falls back, rubs at his eyes.  “You are so full of bullshit.  I can’t even believe.”

“What!”

He moves his hand away from his face to glare at Makoto.  “Are you fucking serious?  The dude gave you jewelry!”

“It’s not like he paid for it!”

“It’s not like he had to go through the effort of opening a hundred oysters just to find that one pearl for you – oh, wait,” Rin snaps.  “He did.”

Makoto’s heart thuds, and he can feel his face heat up, the back of his neck breaking out into a sweat as he avoids eye contact with Rin.  His throat constricts, and suddenly it’s really hard to breathe.  “Are you – what are you – ”

Rin stands up and puts a bracing hand on each of his shoulders.  “Whoa, whoa, take a deep breath.  Sit down.”  He steers him to the edge of his bed, makes him sit down with a firm press downwards.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Makoto says as tears start to well up in his eyes.  “I’m just suddenly so emotional – ”

Rin shushes him.  “You’re stupid, you know that?” he says.  “You’re really fucking stupid.”

“I’m _not_ ,” he protests.  “I just – it never even crossed my mind – ”

“Oh, my God.”  Rin tries to give his shoulder a comforting pat, but it ends up being awkward, so he sits down next to Makoto with a heavy sigh.  “Okay,” he says, as they each stare at the opposite wall, their hands in their laps.  “We’re going to visit him tonight, and you’re going to tell him how you feel.”

Makoto turns to him.  “I can’t do that!”

“You totally can,” Rin insists, punching his arm.  “I’ll go with you.”

“No!”  Makoto says it so quickly that Rin can only blink at him, taken aback.  “I mean,” he adds, “I don’t think – Haru didn’t really like – ”

“You don’t want me to come,” Rin says, dangerously calm, “because Haru doesn’t _like_ me.”

“Well, I mean – ”

“What the hell!” he says.  “He doesn’t know me!”

“Rin,” says Makoto.  “Stop.”

“Well, he _doesn’t_ ,” Rin says, sulking.  “He’s mean.”

“I shouldn’t go, then,” Makoto says, turning away and looking down at his hands in his lap.  “It’s too soon.”

Rin whacks his head.  “Like hell it is!  You’re going!”

“Stop hitting me!”

**

That evening, after dinner, they leave the house under the pretense of going for a run, which is true for Rin, but Makoto branches off from his route when they reach the bottom of the shrine steps, heading for the beach as Rin starts out in the opposite direction. 

“Good luck,” hRinsays before picking up his pace and jogging away, leaving Makoto with his nerves, his stomach twisting in anticipation.  He takes a deep breath, reminding himself of what Rin had said regarding the pearl.   _You can do this_.

When he reaches the beach, he goes straight to the pier, sitting at the end of it with his legs crossed under each other, still fearful that something might jump out of the water and drag him in if he were to let them dangle over the edge.  He fiddles with the hem of his shorts, his heart in his throat as thoughts of what he might say to Haru refuse to leave his head.  He pictures the way Haru will probably shake his wet hair out of his eyes when he surfaces, how his eyes will shine in the pier lights when he looks at him.

 _You’re really doubting whether he likes you or not?_   Makoto thinks of all the suggestive things Nagisa’s said, the guesswork Ran and Ren had done after they had first met Haru.  Nagisa saying Haru wants to make him his human sex slave, Ren’s certainty that Haru was in love with him – it had all been right in front of him, and yet he had refused to notice.  Were they right?  Was he really as stupid as Rin had said?

He balls his hands up into fists.  He just needs to see Haru again.  Then he’ll be able to figure it all out.

He waits, and he waits, and every time he checks his watch, the hands seem to be moving slower.  His heart gives a painful thud when he sees that over an hour has passed, his throat swelling up as he tries to swallow the disappointment flooding his gut like poison.

When Rin jogs up to him ten minutes later, his head is in his hands.  He sits down next to Makoto, his rough breathing a harsh intrusion on the monotony of the waves, the smell of his sweat overpowering the salty breeze.  “You okay?” he says, his eyebrows crinkled with worry.

“Can we just… wait a little bit longer?” Makoto asks, cringing at how small his voice sounds.

Rin sighs.  “Yeah.”  He leans back on his hands, watching the dark water.  “We can.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you weren't sure if this was close to ending, and I can safely assure you that I have a lot more planned! It doesn't seem like a lot in my head, but based on the way the rest of this fic has turned out, I'm sure it'll take longer than I'm thinking it will! (*~▽~)


	19. Chapter 19

“I’m gonna punch him,” says Rin.  “Next time he tries to show his face, I’m decking him.”

“Don’t,” Makoto says wearily. 

“He’s fucking ditched you!” Rin cries, gesticulating wildly.  “Why aren’t you furious?  Frothing with rage?”

“I just don’t see the point,” Makoto sighs, flopping down onto his bed.  They’d returned to the house only a few minutes ago, and Makoto sags into the mattress, ready to roll over and fall asleep.

Rin kicks his leg.  “I can’t believe you’re just giving up like this!”

“Maybe he was busy with mermaid things,” Makoto says, his voice muffled by the arm he’s thrown over his face.  “Maybe he has a pet flounder that was missing him.  Mer-parents that didn’t know where he was.”

Rin scoffs.  “Stop making excuses for him.”

Makoto pulls his legs up onto his bed and rolls over, facing the wall and away from Rin.  “I’m tired.  I’m going to sleep.”

Rin makes a strangled noise, as if he’s restraining himself from yelling something.  “Fine,” he eventually says.  “But I’m not gonna let you sulk tomorrow.  This isn’t the end.”

“Okay,” Makoto mumbles.

Rin gently whacks his arm.  “Don’t be such a baby.”

“Stop being such a jerk.”

“Right, _I’m_ the asshole.”

Makoto can’t help the smile that forms on his mouth at Rin’s incredulous tone.  “Yeah,” he mumbles, burrowing his face into the covers to hide lest Rin see his smile from behind.  “You are.”

Rin makes a dismissive noise in the back of his throat.  “You’re the asshole,” he grumbles, and Makoto hears him settle down on the futon.

Makoto sits up, looking down at Rin.  “Are you going to sleep too?”

“Fuck, no,” Rin says, and he pulls a book out of his bag.  “It’s too early for me.”

Makoto lies back down.  “Okay.”

They fall into an easy silence, and Makoto listens to Rin as he turns the page every few minutes.  He listens to the whirring of the A/C unit in his window, the steady chirping of cicadas outside, the creak of the stairs as Ran or Ren sneak down to get a glass of water.  He listens to all of it, and he knows that it should comfort him as each sound wraps him in the protective cocoon of being _home_.  And yet he can still feel the weariness of his heart as it pauses between each beat, reluctant to move on to the next, aching when he remembers how it had felt waiting for so long, how his legs had gone numb from sitting, how his eyes had begun to sting from straining them too hard looking for the merest hint of the gleam of a dolphin’s fin.  He sucks in an unsteady breath with the hope that Rin won’t hear it over the rest of the noises surrounding them, his whole body shuddering as he exhales, a tear leaking from his eye as he tries to blink it away.

**

When he wakes up the next morning, Rin’s still snoring lightly, and he briefly wonders why he’s still wearing jogging clothes.  Then he remembers, and his stomach nearly drops all the way to the floor beneath him.

He checks the clock on his headboard – 7 AM.  He rolls onto his back, stifling a sigh that’s verging on the edge of a groan –he’s wide awake now, and he sits up, glancing over to see Rin sleeping peacefully and feeling a stab of jealousy at his slack-jawed mouth. 

Without a second thought, he gets up, and when he runs into his mother downstairs, he says he’s just going for a quick morning jog.  And he _does_ jog, only to stop, out of breath, at the edge of the steps leading down to the sandy expanse of the beach.  There are a few other people taking advantage of the still-cool morning air, so Makoto begins walking, not stopping until he’s absolutely certain that he’s alone. 

He sits down a couple of meters out of the waves’ reach and watches the steady undulation of the surface, hoping to catch a glimpse of an elbow or a dorsal fin. 

He doesn’t know how much time has passed before he hears his name bellowed across the sand as Rin sprints in his direction.  “What – the _fuck_ – are you – _doing_?” he pants, bracing his hands on his knees before giving up and collapsing next to Makoto.  “I woke up – and your mom – said you’d – gone running – and I thought – ‘Makoto – doesn’t go running’ – but then – I realized – and I – had to get to you – as fast as I could – ”

“Rin,” Makoto says, calmly staring out at the water as his friend props himself up on an elbow.  “I’m fine.”

“You fucking aren’t,” he bites out, pushing Makoto.  “Your eyes have that wounded-puppy look that made your teacher cry in Grade 8.”

“I didn’t make her _cry_ ,” Makoto gripes.  “And anyway, you weren’t even there.  You wouldn’t know.”

Rin scoffs.  “Let’s just go, okay?  I’m not letting you spend the whole day moping around here like some girl whose sailor boyfriend went out to sea and never came back.”

Makoto gives an ironic smile.  “That’s very romantic of you, Rin.”

“Fuck off.”  He pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts thumbing through his contacts.

“What are you doing?”

He puts the phone to his ear.  “Calling Nagisa.  We’re sorting out his shit today to keep your mind off of Ariel.”

“He isn’t – ”

“Yo,” Rin says, sitting up as Makoto hears Nagisa sleepily mumble something over the line.  “No, Haru isn’t dead,” he snaps, and then he glances sheepishly at Makoto, who quickly averts his eyes.  “Shit, _no_ , Nagisa – I’m not – would you just _listen_ to me?  Fuck.”  He rolls his eyes.  “Meet us for lunch later, okay?”  He holds the phone away from his ear and whispers to Makoto, “When?”  Makoto shrugs, so Rin says, “One.  Meet us at the yakisoba place you guys like at one.  And _don’t bring Rei_.”  He hangs up, then, with a satisfied expression.  “There,” he says.  “I accomplished something.”

“Are you sure you’re not too harsh with Nagisa?” Makoto asks. 

Rin looks like he’s been caught off-guard.  “I’m always like this with Nagisa.”

“Yeah, but…”  Makoto looks away.  “Never mind.”

“Hey, don’t be weird all day,” Rin says.  “We need to help Nagisa, alright?”

“I’m not promising anything.”

“Haru’s just come down with some mermaid flu,” Rin says dismissively.  “He’s bedridden, that’s all.”

Makoto smiles sadly.  “Thanks for trying.”

Rin frowns, rankled.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

**

Nagisa’s late to lunch, edging into the restaurant as if trying to go unnoticed by Rin, who spots him as soon as he opens the door. 

“Yo!” he calls, and Nagisa blanches, causing a ping of pity to flash through Makoto’s chest.

“Rin-chan… Mako-chan…”  He smiles nervously as he sits across from them.  “What brought this on?”

“I’m pretty sure you know,” Rin says, his face entirely serious.

Nagisa looks to Makoto with accusation in his eyes.  “I can’t believe you told him!”

“In my defense, you haven’t actually told me anything,” Makoto says.  “You’ve just been acting really weird.”

Nagisa deflates.  “Sorry.”

“Really, though,” Rin says, leaning closer to the table in his eagerness.  “What the fuck’s going on between you and Rei?”

“Rin!”

Nagisa stares at Rin as if he’s grown a second head.  “R-Rei-chan?  I – I don’t – ”

“Makoto says you two have been pussyfooting around each other ever since he got back from Tokyo, but he’s too polite to say anything about it,” Rin says.  “Me?  I’m not.  Now spill.”

Makoto puts his head in his hands, sighing.  This is _not_ what he had envisioned, and he kicks himself for expecting anything different from Rin. 

“W-well,” Nagisa begins, looking around the restaurant so as to avoid looking at either of his friends and fidgeting in his seat.  “I don’t… really know how to say…”

“Do you like Rei?”

“Rin!”

Nagisa seems to steel himself.  “Rin-chan, Mako-chan,” he says, looking each of them in the eye.  He takes a deep breath.  “I’m gay.”

His confession is met with silence as both Rin and Makoto stare at him with blank, unsurprised faces.  His jaw drops.

“You _knew_?”

“Like we didn’t already know,” Rin snaps.

“Yeah, well, how – ”

Makoto interrupts.  “Let’s order our food.  I think this will go better if our stomachs aren’t empty.”

They eagerly agree to his plan, and within the space of twenty minutes all three of them are slurping up noodles.

“But really,” Rin says as he dabs at his face with a napkin.  “What happened while Makoto was in Tokyo?”

Nagisa sedulously continues to shove food into his mouth, looking up guiltily when Rin makes an irritated noise.  He doesn’t stop, though, until Makoto clears his throat.  He swallows, taking a deep breath before whining, “I can’t tell you, it’s embarrassing!”

“Bullshit,” Rin says through a mouthful of noodles.  “Tell us!”

Nagisa buries his head in his arms, shaking his head.  “I can’t!”

“Please?” Makoto says.  “We can help.  We’re your friends.”

Nagisa just groans, and Rin sighs in frustration.

“You’re going to judge me so hard,” he moans, his voice muffled by the table. 

“ _Nagisa_ – ”

“I confessed!”  Nagisa lifts his head up, his entire face pink.  “I laid myself bare, and he just thought I was complimenting him!”

Rin goes silent, and Makoto’s eyes go wide.  Nagisa hides behind his hands.  “We were at his house, and I put my head on his shoulder, and I said that I was really happy to have met him, and that I thought he was really great, and that I liked him, and that I hoped he liked me back.  And I was dying when I said it, I was expecting him to be grossed out, or offended, or _something_ – but he just…”  Nagisa removes his hands to reveal watery eyes and a wobbly mouth.  “He just leaned his head against mine and said, ‘I’m glad that we’re friends, too’!”

“ _No_ ,” Rin breathes, his face gone slack in shock.  “He did _not_.”

“And so, to not make it weird, I just laughed, but then I couldn’t stop, and then I felt like I was about to start crying, so I ran out of the room, and out of his house, and he ran after me, but I didn’t stop to let him catch up, and I ended up running all the way back to my house and spent the next three days moping in my room.  And he kept asking me what was wrong, he kept calling me, and texting me, and he even came over to my house, and it was the worst thing ever because I _wanted_ to tell him, I really did, but I couldn’t, because he – he doesn’t like me!”  Nagisa gives a pathetic wail of despair, once again burying his face in his arms.

“Shit,” Rin breathes, looking to Makoto for help; Makoto just shrugs helplessly.  Nagisa groans, emitting the sound of someone who’s been broken. 

“N-Nagisa,” he says, awkwardly reaching out to pat his shaking curls.  “I think, if you just tried talking to him again – ”

“I can’t,” Nagisa wails.  “Every time I look into those incredible violet eyes my knees go weak and my heart thuds so hard and it _hurts_ and I just want to cry but I _can’t_ because then he’ll ask me what’s wrong and it’s not like I can _tell_ him – ”

“Whoa,” says Rin, holding up his hands.  “Slow down, there, you don’t know – ”

“But I _do_ ,” Nagisa moans.  “I do.”

Makoto thinks of Rei at the aquarium, and feels wretched.  But he can’t tell Nagisa, that’d be a breach of Rei’s trust…

“I think,” he says, carefully phrasing his words.  “I think, if you tried talking to Rei about it, and being more direct with him… the two of you might be able to communicate better.”

Nagisa looks up at him, hope breaking through his miserable expression.

Makoto shrugs.  “I just… think that the problem here is communication.  He’s your best friend, and even if he doesn’t return your feelings in exactly the same way, I don’t think he’s going to cut all ties with you just because you’ve confessed to him.  He’s not petty.”

Nagisa sniffs.  “You think so?”

Makoto nods, and gives him an encouraging smile.  “Yeah, I do.”

Later, when Nagisa’s ran off to talk to Rei and Rin and Makoto are heading back to Makoto’s house, Rin says, “I didn’t know you could dish that kind of relationship advice.”

Makoto smiles sheepishly.  “You thought it was helpful?”

“Did you see him skip gaily down the street to find Rei?” Rin asks.  “You’re the most sensitive guy ever, I’m in awe.”

“Stop that.”

Rin sighs, looking up at the sky.  “Has your thing with Haru helped you develop this… side of you?”  When Makoto frowns, he quickly adds, “I mean, were you thinking about you and Haru when you said that?”

“No,” Makoto says.  “I just… had a feeling about Rei.  That’s all.”

“Uh huh,” says Rin.  “Well, if you can, use that sensitivity of yours to convince Gou to dump this doofus she’s been dating.  I don’t like him.”

“Mikoshiba?  From Samezuka?”

“It’s _Seijuuruo-kun_ ,” Rin says, his voice comical in a fake simper. 

Makoto thinks back to what Nagisa had told him.  “I thought they met through you.”

“They met through this guy Akiyama who went to my school in Australia,” Rin explains petulantly.  “He met Gou when she was still your club’s manager, and Mikoshiba apparently went through him to hang out with her, and after your club dissolved and their relationship was no longer professional, he asked her out.”

“Is that so?” Makoto says, smiling.  “That’s romantic.”

“It fucking isn’t,” Rin snaps.  “She turned him down, and he begged her to go out with him just _once_ , and apparently he did a really fucking impressive job of it because she’s head over heels for him now.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy for her?”

“He’s two years older than her!”

“So?  My parents are two years apart.”

Rin opens his mouth to say something, closes it, and scowls.  “Yeah, well, they’re older.  It’s okay for them.”

Makoto smiles and tries not to laugh.  “They met in high school.”

“Fuck off,” Rin says.  “Gou shouldn’t be dating until she’s graduated college.”

“Isn’t that her own decision to make?” Makoto asks.

“Just wait until Ran is old enough to date,” Rin says.  “Then you’ll know how I feel.”

“Right,” Makoto says.  “Okay.”

Rin whacks his arm.  “Don’t say that!”

Makoto laughs.  “Sorry.”

Rin groans, and he pauses once they reach the foot of the shrine steps.  “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks.

“What do you mean?”

“You know,” Rin says, inclining his head as if he’s imparting some kind of secret onto Makoto.  “About You-Know-Who.”

“Oh.”  Makoto nods, chews on his lips.  “I think so.”

“You’re not just saying that.”

“I don’t know,” he admits.  “But I don’t think I want to think about it that much.”

Rin nods.  “Okay.  I get it.  I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“I don’t blame you for caring,” Makoto says, smiling.  “But I’d prefer it if we did something to keep my mind off of it.”

“Mario Kart?”

Makoto agrees to it, and then they’re hurrying up the stairs, Rin claiming that the first one up gets to pick their character first.  It isn’t fair at all, since Rin is in much better shape than him thanks to his vigorous swimming schedule in Australia, but Makoto goes along with it, happy to be spending any time with him at all.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a little playlist for this to help me focus, and I thought I would share it with you!  
> So here it is: http://8tracks.com/jehansprouvaire/had-we-but-world-enough-and-time
> 
> And now for the chapter!

The remaining days of Rin’s visit pass, each more frustrating than the last as Rin continuously thinks up activities to keep Makoto away from the beach.  They play house with the twins, shop for school supplies, go to the cinema three times, and when over breakfast Makoto’s mother wonders out loud why they aren’t spending any time down by the water, Rin jokes that he spends enough time surrounded by water already at school.

“And anyway,” he adds, a little too heartily if Makoto has anything to say about it, “The school’s like, a fifteen minute drive from the coast.  It’s really similar to here, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Makoto’s mother asks, smiling as she scoops rice out of the cooker.  “That sounds lovely.”

Rin leans back in his chair and nods.  “It is – but it’s not as peaceful as Iwatobi,” he says, letting the chair legs fall back to the floor with a smack.  “It’s close to Brisbane, so it can get pretty busy.”

“Australia sounds like such a nice place to visit,” she sighs wistfully.  “Don’t you agree, Makoto-kun?”

“Uh,” Makoto says, looking up from his miso soup distractedly.  “I guess.”

“That reminds me,” she says, looking up at Makoto as she snaps the cooker shut.  “Speaking of travelling, have you finished all of your summer homework so you can enjoy our camping trip in a few days?”

Makoto blanches.  “M-my h-homework…” 

His mother furrows her brows.  “Have you not finished?”

He hears Rin mutter “Oh, _shit_ ,” under his breath as he swallows thickly, his stomach plummeting to the ground.  “I – I haven’t _started_ it…”

“You _what_?”

“Dude,” Rin breathes.

“I… I…”  He’d been so preoccupied with Haru, he hadn’t even _thought_ – he’d only been able to think about the next time he’d be able to see him, how he was doing after the injury – he’d worried about him, wondered if there was anything he could do to ameliorate the boredom he no doubt felt sitting around the school’s locker room – school _work_ had been the last thing on his mind –

“How could you have let that slip your mind?” his mother asks, outraged.  “Every year, we go camping as a family the week before school starts, and every year, you’ve managed to get your homework done before it was time to leave – this is your last year, too!  How could you forget?”  She gasps.  “Are you still troubled from the – from what happened?”

“No,” Makoto says, frowning.  He barely even thinks about that anymore.  He shakes his head.  “That’s not it.  But I’ll be around next year, too,” he protests.  “I’m not going away forever as soon as I graduate!”

“This is your last year living in this house!” she cries, and Makoto’s heart cringes in his chest when he sees the tears starting up in her eyes.  “Next year you’ll be a university student, living away from home – you’ll just be visiting, it won’t be the same – ”

Makoto stands up, walks around the table to her spot next to the rice cooker, and wraps her up in a hug.  “It’ll be exactly the same as it’s always been,” he murmurs, stroking her hair as she lets out a shaky breath.  Gently, he shushes her.  “Who even says I’m going to live away from home next year?” he says.  “I could commute.”

She weakly hits his chest from under his arms.  “You know you’re going to Tokyo to study.  You’ve wanted to get into that veterinarian program for a year now.”

“I know, but… if you need me to stay here, I can work something else out.”

She pulls away to glare at him.  “No, that’s out of the question, you do what _you_ want to do.”

Makoto laughs.  “Okay, okay…”

She sighs heavily and leans her forehead against Makoto’s shoulder.  “What are we going to do without you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, what the hell, Makoto?” Rin says from the table in an obvious attempt to diffuse the situation.  “What had you so scrambled you forgot about summer homework?  You think you’ll be able to pass entrance exams with that kind of attitude?”

Makoto shoots him a withering look as his mother takes a step away from him, wiping at her eyes.  “I’m sorry I keep doing this to you,” she says, chuckling once.  “I don’t know what’s happened to me.”

“It’s okay,” he says, giving her a reassuring pat on each shoulder.  “You’re just being a mom.”

“You’re starting your homework today,” she says, pointing a stern finger in his direction.

Makoto gestures to his friend.  “But Rin – ”

“Oh, pooh,” she says, her finger drooping immediately as uncertainty kicks in.  “But – the camping trip…”

Rin comes up from behind Makoto and claps a hand onto his shoulder.  “Looks like you goofed up big time, huh, Mako?” he says.

“I’m really sorry,” Makoto says to his mother.  “I really don’t know how I let it slip.”

Rin squeezes his shoulder.  _We both know how it slipped_.  “We’ve got stuff to do with Nagisa and Rei, remember?  Or did that slip your mind, as well?”

“Shut up,” Makoto grumbles, ducking out from under his arm.

“Be back in time for dinner, both of you!” his mother calls out as they leave the kitchen.

**

They catch Nagisa and Rei trying to surreptitiously hold hands when they walk up to them at the shopping center in the middle of town, and Rin laughs when they jump apart at his innocent cough.

“What the heck,” Nagisa moans, pouting at Rin.  “You’re so mean!”

Rei adjusts his glasses in an attempt to hide his flushed face.  “It’s not polite to disturb people like that,” he says.

“So,” Rin says, grinning.  “You two are dating then?”

“We’re not – ”

“We haven’t –”

“It isn’t like – ”

“We decided – ”

Rin laughs at their panicked expressions.  “I’m only teasing you,” he says.  “I take it Nagisa confessed, though?”

Both Rei and Nagisa break eye contact shyly.  Nagisa speaks first.

“Well, after you and Mako-chan talked to me, I sort of went to talk to Rei-chan immediately…”

Makoto feels something sour rise up in the back of his throat, and he gives a nervous laugh.  “I think we get the picture, huh?  No need to go into details…”

Rin jerks his head around to look at Makoto, his eyes wide.  “Shit, he’s right,” he says quickly.  “That’s your own private deal, you shouldn’t be forced to tell us everything until you know what’s been sorted out, right?”

“Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?” Nagisa asks, narrowing his eyes.  “Did something happen with Haru-chan?”

“No.”  Rin grabs Makoto by the forearm and starts walking.

“Hey!”  Nagisa follows, dragging Rei behind him, as well.  “Come back here!”

Rin ducks into a nearby clothing store, immediately plunging into the maternity section.  He pulls Makoto behind a display of dresses just as Nagisa and Rei blow through the doors, running past Rin’s hiding spot as they head for the men’s section.

Rin breathes a sigh of relief.  “That was close.”

“Is this really how we’re spending our afternoon?” Makoto asks, irritated.  “Hiding from Nagisa and Rei?”

“You were feeling shitty about Haru, what else was I supposed to do?” Rin hisses, trying to be quiet in case inquiring ears are nearby. 

“That doesn’t mean you drag me away as suspiciously as possible,” Makoto whispers back, frowning.  “You could’ve just casually changed the subject, like I was about to do before you interrupted.”

“Well, excuse me for not being able to read your damn mind!”

“Why do you have to overreact so much?”

“Why do you have to be so fucking mopey!”  Makoto jerks back in surprise at Rin’s harsh tone, and Rin sighs.  “I’ve tried to help, keeping you away from there, and I know that it’s shitty and you miss him, but _God_ , this is one of the only times we get to hang out in person, and you’re spending all of it pining after someone who’s not even fully – _ow_!”  He rubs at his shoulder, where Makoto had hit him.  “What the fuck!”

“I’m sorry that I’ve made this a disappointing visit for you,” Makoto snaps, his insides boiling.  “And I’m sorry that I like Haru.  But I can’t help what happened, okay?  He saved my life, so the least you could do is be thankful that he was around.”

Rin scoffs.  “He saved your life, so you want to date him?  How’s that going to work?”

“It’s not like that!”

“What’s it like, then?” Rin asks, goading him.  “You’re just gonna be happy holding his hand under the pier hoping no one will see you?  That sounds _really_ fulfilling.”

His sharp words hit Makoto in the gut like a fist.  “Why do you have to be such an ass?” he asks.

“Why do you have to be so hopeless?  He obviously needed you when he was injured, but now that he’s better, what’s the point of staying in touch?  You were conveniently stupid enough to develop feelings, so the fuck what.”

“Don’t – ”

“You said it yourself, you didn’t think he liked you, even despite the kissing – ”

“Shut _up_ , Rin,” Makoto snaps, his voice hard.  “Stop acting like you know anything about this, and _shut up_.”

“I’m leaving for Hokkaido tomorrow,” Rin says, “And this whole time, you’ve been preoccupied with whatever the fuck it is that’s going on between you and Haru.  I’ve been looking forward to this since the end of my last visit, and when I get here, you’re too busy pining after a fucking mythical creature to even spare one minute of attention for me.  I understand that your feelings are real, and maybe his are too, but it fucking sucks when you’re trying to be there for your best friend and they don’t even care enough to hide their disappointment for a few fucking days.”  He stands up.  “I get that you’re feeling down, but it’s pretty fucking selfish of you to drag me into your gloomy pity party without even considering the fact that maybe, just maybe, as your best friend, I could have helped you out.”

“Rin – ”

“Don’t drown yourself trying to find Haru while I’m gone,” he says.

“I’m so–”

“Ah, Mako-chan, Rin-chan!”  Nagisa’s grinning face appears over the clothing rack.  “Found you!”

Rin rolls his eyes.  “Whatever,” he mutters, and he stalks off, his hands clenched into fists.

Nagisa looks at Makoto.  “What’s that about?”

Makoto stands up.  “It’s nothing.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Did I hear him say something about Haru-chan?” Nagisa asks, trailing along as Makoto heads for the exit.

“Yeah.”

“What’s going on?”

“He hasn’t been around.”

“He disappeared?”

“Yeah.”

He gasps.  “Since we took him back?”

Makoto grimaces.  “Can we drop it?”

Rei shows up, falling into step beside them.  “You’re making Makoto-senpai uncomfortable.”

“Were you and Rin-chan fighting?”

“I think I’m just going to go home,” Makoto sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets.  “Let Rin know when you find him.”

“O-okay…”  Nagisa and Rei watch him stalk off, Nagisa, for once, completely dumbfounded.

Makoto doesn’t go home, though, instead heading straight for the shore, where he picks a spot far away from the crowd of beachgoers, hugging his knees to his chest and miserably watching the swell of the water.  His insides feel hollow now, as Rin’s words echo inside his head, berating him for being stupid enough to put his trust into someone he’d only known for a few weeks.

But he misses Haru, and it feels as if someone has carved out a piece of his flesh, a hole in his heart where Haru had previously wormed his way in.  He can feel it collapsing in on itself, leaving his heart misshapen, unable to function properly.

And Rin – Makoto grits his teeth against his hurtful words.  He feels guilty for ruining his friend’s visit, but he can’t help the way he felt when the corners of Haru’s mouth ticked upward in the faintest ghost of a smile, when Haru kissed him for the first time.  He can’t help the way Haru had clung to him, his face buried in the junction of his neck and shoulder every time he carried him, the softness of his breath enough to make Makoto feel warm all over.  He remembers the smooth, hot-blooded muscularity of Haru’s tail as it twitched under his hand, the warmth in his cool eyes, the tenderness in his hands as he cupped Makoto’s jaw while his lips wreaked havoc.

Makoto can’t remember how he had felt a day – no, an _hour_ before his fateful encounter with the mermaid.  He only remembers it as the time before Haru, and now, in the time after Haru, he only feels longing for his time _with_ Haru.  A string of tears break free from one of his eyes and rolls down his cheek, a quiet sob breaks free from his swollen throat, and he swallows all of the sobs that remain until they congeal in his stomach as something that resembles rejection.

**

They don’t talk as Rin packs his bags that evening, and they only say the minimal amount to each other as Rin’s mother and Gou show up the next morning to pick him up.

“See you, then,” Rin mutters.

“Don’t let this ruin your time with your family, okay?” Makoto says.

Rin petulantly kicks his foot out.  “Fine.”

Ran and Ren complain loudly as Rin follows his family through the front door, clinging to Makoto and whining in a way that makes Makoto want to join in himself.

**

Then, his family leaves. 

The twins bemoan his grounding, and they beg their parents to grant him a reprieve as they gather their luggage.

“ _Please_ ,” Ran wails, hanging off of her father’s arm. 

“It won’t be the same without onii-chan!” Ren cries.

“Onii-chan has to make sure he starts school off well,” their mother says.  “So he can get into a good university.”

“Please come with us, onii-chan!” Ren begs, his eyes shining with tears.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto says, ruffling his hair.  “I was irresponsible, so I have to mind the consequences of that.”

“But we need you!”

“You’ll still have fun with Mom and Dad,” Makoto promises.  “Don’t worry about me.”

Ren sniffles, and he doesn’t look as if he’s been persuaded at all, but Makoto manages to pry him off of his leg and nudge him in the direction of the walkway.  “Dad looks like he’s ready to go.  Have fun!”

His mother comes out of the house.  “There’s miso in the fridge and pizza in the freezer,” she says.  “I left some money on the counter in case you want take-out or decide to do something with friends.  If anything happens, call Hashimoto-san next door and she’ll help you out, okay?”  Hashimoto-san is their eighty year-old neighbor whose house serves as a sort of gathering place for all of the shrine cats; Makoto doubts that she’d be able to handle any emergencies, but he nods his head anyway.

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry you can’t come,” his mother says, frowning.  “Never do this again!”

Makoto laughs.  “I promise.”

“Be safe,” she says.

“ _Okay_.”

His father calls for her from the edge of the steps, and with a final pat on his shoulder, she leaves.  Makoto watches them march down the steps to the taxi waiting in the street, the hollow feeling returning to his gut as their heads disappear behind the garden wall.  He can still hear the twins’ chattering as he turns for the door, and he takes a deep breath, determined to keep it together for the time being.

The house seems too large with just him in it, and the silence of an empty house becomes utterly unbearable as the day drags on – by the time the sun has gone down and he’s thrown away the remaining crumbs of the pizza he’s just eaten, the TV is on the twins’ anime channel, the radio in his parents’ room is playing the current hits, all of the lights are on, and he still feels wretched. 

He falls asleep watching late night reruns, and when he wakes up, he doesn’t feel any less hollow inside.  After avoiding a few curious texts from Nagisa, he decides to get right to work on his homework.  He sets everything up at the coffee table in the living room, and the sheer volume of it all – an entire novel for his literature class, several math worksheets, a bunch of pages in his English workbook, as well as all of his reading for history and the essay that’s supposed to come after it – makes him reconsider whether a university education is worth it, after all.  So he’s thankful when the doorbell chimes and gives him an excuse to procrastinate even further.

He’s expecting it to be Hashimoto-san with an offering of food her daughter-in-law prepared, or Nagisa and Rei in a hastily planned ambush.  It could have been Rin, returned to make an apology.  Hell, it could have been Gou’s new boyfriend seeking relationship advice.

Instead, it’s Haru, his stoic face unmoving as Makoto gapes open-mouthed.

“Makoto,” he says.  “I’m glad that I was able to find your house.”


	21. Chapter 21

When Makoto opens his eyes, he’s lying on the floor, and Haru’s hovering over him, calling out his name.

“Hey,” he says, smiling stupidly as Haru’s concerned face swims into focus.  “This reminds me of how we first met.”

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?”  He tries to sit up, but Haru places a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t get up!” he says, pushing him back.  “You fell over, you could be hurt.”

Makoto squints.  “I what?”

Haru sighs through his nose, stressed.  “After I greeted you, you said my name, and then you fell over, and I called your name and tried to wake you up, but you wouldn’t wake up, and it’s been a few minutes since – ”

“I fainted?”

He hesitates.  “I think so.”

Makoto blinks.  “Wow.”

Haru gingerly places a hand on his brow, smoothing his hair off of his face.  When Makoto looks up at him, he’s fighting off a small smile.  “I was worried that I surprised you to death or something,” he murmurs.  “You went pale, like I’d scared you.”

“Yeah, well, you _did_ scare me,” Makoto grumbles.  “How did you even...”  He waves a hand in the general direction of Haru’s legs.  “Manage this?”

Haru pats his head.  “You don’t need to know.”

Makoto bites back an insistent reply, knowing how stubborn Haru would inevitably get.  “Well,” he says instead, sitting up.  “I missed you.”

Haru’s guarded expression melts into surprise, and then he’s blushing, and then he’s hiding his face in Makoto’s lap as he falls forward and weakly hits Makoto’s knee.  “Stupid,” he mumbles, the heat of his skin seeping through Makoto’s shorts.

“Also,” Makoto says, a bit hesitantly.  “What exactly are you _wearing_?”

Haru peeks up from where he’s buried his face.  “What do you mean?”

Makoto gestures to the green running shorts and baggy basketball jersey hanging off of Haru’s thin frame.  “That’s an odd combination,” he says.

Haru sits up, scowling.  “You’re the one who said humans can’t walk around naked.”

“Well, yeah, but – ”

“If I hadn’t found these, you would’ve really had a heart attack because you’d have been so embarrassed,” he snaps.

Makoto falters because it’s true – he _would_ have died of embarrassment if Haru had arrived stark naked.  He can only imagine what Hashimoto-san next door would have said about the naked young man at his doorstep.

He takes a closer look at Haru’s clothes.  “Did – did you _steal_ those?”

“They were just lying on the sand, so I took them.”

Makoto puts a hand to his face and groans.  “Those _belonged_ to someone!”

“I needed something to wear!”

Makoto looks at Haru through his fingers.  _He’s right_.  He sighs.  “We’ll take them back later, once we’ve found you something else to wear.  I – I think I still have some old clothes that might fit you.”

Haru looks away, embarrassed.  “Where are your family?” he asks.  “Where’s Rin?”

“Oh.”  Makoto’s a bit surprised at the sudden change of topic.  “They, uh… they’re not here,” he says, punctuating it with a nervous laugh.  “Why?”

“Where are they?”

“Camping?  Rin’s in Hokkaido.”

“You’re all alone?”

Makoto feels uneasy.  “Why are you asking?”

Haru looks away.  “No reason.”

“What did you do to get here?”  When Haru doesn’t respond, he asks, “Did you do something bad?  Was there a price to pay for this?  Some kind of dark spell?  Did you have to go to a sea witch?”

Haru wrinkles his nose.  “Sea witches aren’t real.”

“But how did you – ”

Haru silences Makoto with his lips, fisting his hands in the fabric of his shirt and pulling him close as he inhales through his nose and presses even closer.  He leans forward until Makoto’s back hits the wall, and he continues to surge forward like a tide until he’s straddling Makoto’s lap, his hands eagerly cupping his head as he opens his lips, a small sigh washing across his face.

“W-what,” Makoto stammers, trying to pull away, but Haru quickly mashes their mouths together again, this time moving his lips, his fingers tightening against Makoto’s scalp and sending a volley of sensations through Makoto’s brain.  Makoto tries to protest around the kiss, and he yelps when Haru tugs at his bottom lip with his teeth in warning.  As if in apology, Haru’s hands soften, gently moving through his hair as he scoots further up, eventually looming over Makoto and using that vantage point to tilt Makoto’s head back and suck all the air out of his lungs.

Makoto’s heart feels on the verge of bursting as Haru makes a small noise, a mix between a sigh and a moan as he breathes air back into Makoto, filling him with a sweet sensation that leaves him dizzy and unable to concentrate on anything except the heat of Haru’s mouth, the soft, wet noises their lips make as they meld together, part, and suck into each other once more.  Haru’s fingers in his hair, his legs squeezing his sides, the warmth of his chest bumping against his own, the hardness massaging the waistband of his pants –

Makoto gasps, opens his eyes, and feels his heart stop when Haru once again ruts against him, breathlessly moaning, sharply and sweetly, his mouth open in shocked ‘o’ as his eyes remain closed, his hands twitching against Makoto’s scalp.

Makoto swallows thickly.  “H-Haru,” he says, his voice cracking, “You – ”

Haru presses a kiss to the underside of Makoto’s jaw, pausing to let his breath give rise to goose bumps as he says, “What.”

“You – your pants – I mean, _in_ your pants – ”

Haru pulls away, and Makoto suddenly feels too cold.  “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing!”  Makoto can’t look at him, and his face feels like it’s on fire, and he’s entirely too aware of the _thing_ insistently pressing against him.  “I-it’s just – y-you’re _erect_!”

“I’m _what_?”

Makoto cries out in sheer mortification, falling over in despair.  “Your – your _thing_!  Between your legs!”

Haru looks down at the tent in his pants.  “Is this bad?” he asks, and Makoto can hear the panic edging into his normally placid tone.  “Has something gone wrong?”

“N-no, well – I mean – not _exactly_ – ”

Haru falls forward and onto Makoto, burying his face in his chest.  He groans miserably, worming the rest of his body up to Makoto’s until he’s scrunched up against his side, his crotch safely turned toward the ground. 

“Haru…”  Makoto awkwardly reaches a hand up to pat the back of his head.  “It’s okay…”

“I had no idea,” Haru mumbles, nosing his way further into Makoto’s chest as if trying to disappear.  “It just felt good, I didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to happen – ”

“No, no, it’s – it’s not _not_ supposed to happen…”  Makoto grimaces at his utter lack of eloquence.  “I mean, it’s just… part of, well, anatomy, I guess.  It’s what happens with that… particular… body part.”

Haru lifts his head enough to look up at Makoto through his eyelashes.  “Why didn’t it happen with you?” he quietly asks.

“Uh – ”  Makoto nearly tells him about just how influential Haru’s own arousal had been, but he can’t do it, so he coughs awkwardly and says, “Maybe it’s just, ah, because it’s newer for you?  I don’t – I’m not really sure.”

“Would it have happened to you if we’d kept going?”

Makoto ignores the way that shoots directly to his groin, instead managing, “I d-don’t see why that matters…”

Haru lifts himself up to his hands and knees, crawling over Makoto’s lap until his face is only a few centimeters away.  “I like kissing you, Makoto,” he says, his eyes blunt and direct as they hold Makoto’s gaze.  “It feels nice.”

“I l-like kissing you too,” Makoto stutters.  “B-but I think – ”

Haru sits on Makoto’s lap again and winds his arms around Makoto’s neck, tightening them to bring them even closer together.  He licks his lips, his breath warm and humid as it washes over and into Makoto’s mouth.  “If it’s not bad,” he murmurs, “Then I think I want it to happen again.”

Makoto tries to back away, but the wall has him trapped as Haru leans into him and kisses him, his mouth half-open, his lips pliant and soft.  Their teeth clack together a few times, but Makoto still finds himself feeling light-headed as Haru sucks his bottom lip between his two, biting down on it gently and eliciting a faint moan from the back of Makoto’s throat.  Makoto’s hands attach themselves to Haru’s sides, unconsciously pulling him closer and twitching to hold on tighter when the motion brings their crotches into direct contact.  Haru gasps, his arms tightening around Makoto’s neck as something tightens in his pants, and Makoto’s eyes roll into the back of his head as Haru gives a tentative roll of his hips, shakily exhaling as his open lips brush against Makoto’s. 

 “H-Haru…”  Makoto’s voice is thick as Haru rolls his hips again, and the heat it creates within the core of his stomach is nearly unbearable.  “Please – I can’t – ”

“Makoto,” Haru gasps, grinding against Makoto’s own erection.  “Please don’t make me stop.”

“But – ”

Haru moves an arm to reach between them to adjust himself, and just as he starts to fumble with the waistband, Makoto restrains him with both hands.  “Please, _please_ ,” he breathes, staring at their hands in order to focus on anything but the straining fabric beneath them.  “I have _homework_ – ”

“Later,” Haru gasps, pulling his hands away to wrap them back around his neck.  “Please…”

Makoto swallows whatever dignity he may have hoped to retain as he thrusts upward, his mouth falling open in a weak gasp as Haru all but yelps at the contact.  It quickly morphs into a sweet moan, though, as Makoto repeats the action, and he meets it with a roll of his own until they’re both moving, their breath hitching in unison as something hot, elastic, and sharp builds up in the pit of Makoto’s stomach until it’s spilling out of him along with a low, drawn-out moan that makes Haru stiffen and shiver as he releases, too.

Neither of them move, both of them too focused on catching their breath as Haru wilts into Makoto, sliding down his chest until he comes to rest with his head on his stomach.

“What – what _was_ that?” he breathes, tilting his head to look up at Makoto with big eyes.

Makoto can’t look at his flushed face, his kiss-pink lips and mussed hair without also feeling the cold spot in his shorts.  “Th-that… was…”

“I want to do it again.”

“No!  We – we – we have to take those clothes back!”  Makoto quickly scrambles out from under Haru, who falls to the ground with a quiet _oof_.  He rolls over to glare at Makoto, and it’s then that Makoto realizes the significance of what they’ve done.  “We have to get you out of those shorts,” he says, his voice faint as Haru sits up, the dark stain on his shorts exerting a strange gravity on his gaze.  “Like, right now.”

“Okay,” Haru says.  “But I think you have to carry me.”

“What?”

“My legs are really weak.”

“How’d you get up to my house then?” Makoto asks, picking him up nonetheless.

“I took a lot of breaks.”

Makoto sighs wearily, and when they get to his room, he gently sets him on the edge of his bed.  “Stay there,” he says, and Haru simply looks around at the sparse furnishings, his eyes sparkling with interest.

Makoto leaves him there to rifle desperately through the bottom drawer of his dresser.  He can’t seem to find anything except old school uniforms, and he’s about to give up when he finds something that will work.  “This should fit you,” he says, turning around and tossing a yellow and orange shirt over to Haru.

“What about – ”

“And these,” he adds, following up with some blue shorts.  “I wore them a lot last year, but I’ve grown a bit since then.  It might be a little loose, but it’s better than what you’re wearing.”

Haru _hmph_ s, fingering the hem of the jersey.  “This material is soft.  It’s nice.”

“Please, Haru,” Makoto begs.  “That isn’t your shirt.”

Haru rolls his eyes.  “Fine.  But – ”  He looks at the floor, blushing.  “Please leave so I can change.”

“O-oh, right, of course!”  Makoto bows awkwardly before scurrying out of the room, and as he pauses with his head against the closed door, he kicks himself for being so weird.  _Why did I_ do _that?_

When Haru comes out, the neck of the shirt is dangerously close to slipping off of his shoulder, and the sleeves hang down to about his elbow.  Without saying anything, he offers the bundle of stolen clothing to Makoto, who promptly takes them into the bathroom so he can wash the shorts.  Haru follows, and he sits on the counter next to the sink, his watchful gaze making the back of Makoto’s neck prickle as he conscientiously rinses the stain out with some soap.  One of his legs swings over to nudge Makoto’s side, making him jump, and when he turns to glare at Haru, he finds him smiling.  Makoto quickly turns away to finish his task, wringing out the shorts when he finishes and handing them to Haru before positioning himself in front of him, facing away.

“Get on,” he says, and when Haru doesn’t do anything, he reaches behind him, wrapping Haru’s arms around his neck and balancing his legs on his arms, piggy-back style.  “Since you can’t walk very well,” he explains.  “I figured I’d just carry you.”

Haru leans his forehead against Makoto’s shoulder.  “Thank you,” he says, and his voice sounds strained with something Makoto can’t quite identify.

They make an odd sight going down the steps, but Makoto tries to will away the self-consciousness he feels, adjusting his grip on Haru’s legs as he feels Haru adjust his grip around Makoto’s neck.  It isn’t far to the beach, and without much prodding, Haru quietly points them in the direction from which he came.  Makoto walks, and walks, and walks, but Haru keeps insisting that they’re almost there. 

“They had a pink umbrella,” Haru says.

“Are you sure they haven’t packed up and left?” Makoto asks.  His strength is quickly fading, and he isn’t sure how much longer he can continue walking.

“Why are you saying that when you were so insistent on returning these?” Haru snaps, brandishing the clothing clasped in his hands in front of Makoto’s face.  “If you knew they’d have left already, what were you planning?”

“I _hadn’t_ thought that they’d already have left,” Makoto argues.  “I just… I’m so _tired_ , I need rest…”

“Put me down.”

“No, your legs – ”

“I think I can manage now.”

“Are you sure?”

Haru fidgets against Makoto’s hold on his legs.  “ _Yes_.” 

Makoto legs go, and Haru allows himself to drop, but as soon as his feet come into contact with the sand, he falls over.  Makoto tries to catch him, but in his haste he loses his center of gravity and only manages to land on top of Haru, getting a mouthful of sand in the process.

“See?” he wheezes, rolling off of Haru and coughing.  “I told you.”

Haru makes a dismissive noise.  “You made it worse.”

Weary and exhausted, Makoto simply rests his head against the sand and closes his eyes.  “Can we just stay like this for a bit?  We’ll go home in a few minutes.”

Haru sits up and shakes sand from his hair.  “Home?” he says.

“My house,” Makoto corrects.

“No, I know what you meant,” Haru says.  “I just like that you called it ‘home’.”

Makoto opens his eyes to look at Haru; he’s barely smiling, but despite the subtlety of it, Haru’s face has taken on a warmth that makes something tender curl inside Makoto’s stomach.

 _Home_.

It isn’t the first time Makoto’s wished he could see into Haru’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it (*´・ｖ・)


	22. Chapter 22

“Are you hungry?”

Haru looks so perplexed by the question when Makoto tilts his head to the side to see him that he can’t help but laugh. 

“What,” Haru snaps.

“Nothing, nothing.”  Makoto calms down as Haru glares, but the smile remains on his face.  “I was just trying to be considerate.”

“Are _you_ hungry?”

“I’m not concerned about me.”

Haru’s taken aback, and he takes a moment to play with the sand, ducking his head to hide his face.  “You should be,” he mumbles.

“Do you want something to eat?”

Haru considers.  “Yes.”  He stands up, then, offering a hand out to Makoto.  Makoto takes it, and when he straightens up after dusting sand off of his shorts, he finds Haru with his head tilted up, frowning at him.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Haru mumbles, looking away as his cheeks fill with color.  “I just – I thought I’d be taller.”

Makoto laughs, but he quickly puts a hand over his mouth to suppress it when Haru looks up at him to glare.  “I’m sorry,” he chokes, another guffaw rising up in his throat.  “That was just… really cute.”

Haru doesn’t talk after that, and they walk into town in silence.  It’s awkward at first, Haru’s displeasure at being called _cute_ radiating off of him in waves, but as they near Makoto’s favorite noodle place, the hostility starts to ebb.  Makoto’s surprised when Haru actually starts to hover closer to him once they enter the restaurant; by the time they’re standing in line, he’s practically glued himself to Makoto’s side.  One of his hands reaches up to hold onto Makoto’s arm, as if he’s afraid of getting separated, and it makes Makoto’s stomach flip.

 “Are you okay?” Makoto whispers.

He nods.  “There are just a lot of people.”

Makoto looks around at the three other customers eating in the restaurant and the two groups in front of them.  “Okay.”  His heart thuds when Haru’s grip tightens as a young woman brushes past them with a bowl of ramen.  “Do you want to leave?”

“No.”  Haru edges closer to Makoto, though.  “I’m okay.”

They order, or, more accurately, Makoto orders for both of them (“Do you want something with mackerel in it?” he’d asked.  Haru’s response had been a fresh spark in his eye).  Haru follows him to a table in the corner, and when they sit down, he takes a moment to properly look around.

“Are you excited?” Makoto asks with what he hopes is an encouraging smile.

“What do you mean?”

“Just…”  Makoto shrugs as Haru gingerly touches the paper-wrapped chopsticks Makoto had picked up at the front.  “You asked so many questions about this kind of stuff, and now you’re actually seeing it for yourself.  _I’d_ be excited.”

“Then I am,” he says.  He doesn’t look at Makoto, though, opening one of the chopsticks and pulling them out for inspection.  He holds them up for Makoto to see.  “What are these?”

“They’re chopsticks,” Makoto says, not entirely understanding but opening his own anyway to show Haru.  He breaks them apart as a demonstration.  “You eat with them.”

Haru breaks his apart, too, his brow furrowing in concentration as Makoto explains how to hold them.  When their noodles finally arrive, he tries them out, only to splatter broth all over the table and himself. 

“I don’t like these,” he says, wrinkling his nose.  “They’re troublesome.”

Makoto sighs.  “You’re not holding them right.  Here, let me show you.”  He reaches across the table, taking Haru’s hands in his and adjusting his grip on the chopsticks.  He stops when he notices how Haru stiffens, and he blushes when he realizes why.  Quickly, he lets go, stammering about the proper way to hold them while pointing to his own hand. 

“Y-you can also just slurp the broth first,” he adds as Haru once again splatters himself.  “It might be easier if it’s just the noodles.”

Haru gives Makoto a look that tells him he should’ve said that from the very beginning.  Without saying anything, he takes the bowl in both hands and carefully lifts it, pausing with it near his lips.  He stares at Makoto, who jumps into action, lifting up his own bowl and showing Haru how do it.

When he finishes wiping broth from his upper lip, Makoto asks, “Can you please explain how you got your legs?”

Haru fidgets.  “Why are you asking me now?”

“Because I want to know.”

“Can I tell you later?  We’re eating.”

Makoto frowns.  “I’m just – I didn’t expect this to happen.  I never imagined that you would do this – well, that you would be _able_ to do this, and I’m just… curious.  As to why, but also how.”  He shrugs.  “Does that make sense?”

“How it happened is kind of gross though,” Haru hedges, studying his noodles intensely. 

Makoto tries to be fair.  “Give me the bare minimum, then.”

Haru doesn’t lift his head, and his voice is quiet as he says, “I dried out.”

Makoto isn’t entirely sure he heard him right.  “What?”

“I was out of the water long enough to dry out and that triggered it.”

“I need more than that.”

“It’s magic.”

“Haru,” Makoto says, using the tone reserved for Ren or Ran when they try to be fussy.

Haru looks up to glare at Makoto.  “Fine,” he huffs.  “I picked a spot where no one would find me, I laid out until I was as dry as a bone, and then my tail just kind of…”  He pauses.  “Changed.  It was really uncomfortable.  And itchy.”  He looks back to his food, mumbling, “I don’t know how else to explain it.  It’s just a thing merfolk can do, and I tried it out so I could see you instead of making you always come to see me.  That’s all.”

Makoto blinks, a little dumbfounded.  “M-merfolk do this regularly?” he asks before reaching for his soda.

“It’s one of the ways that they lure humans out to the sea.”

Makoto chokes on his drink, and he has to spit some of it back into the can.  “Lure?  As in _kill_?”

“No!”  Haru’s head snaps up in panic.  “I’m not doing that!”

“But you _can_?”

Haru looks down again, stressed.  “I – I guess – I don’t know.  I don’t think merfolk do it as often as they used to.  It’s just the story my grandmother told me.”  He peeks up at Makoto, almost sheepishly.  “I’ve never done this before, so I don’t really know what I’m doing.  That’s why it took so long getting to you.”

“Haru – ”

He shoves a bunch of noodles into his mouth to stop any more conversation, and as he chews, he looks up at Makoto with big eyes.  “Thi’ i’ good,” he says around the food.  “Wow.”

“You’re not getting out of this,” Makoto warns, watching him slurp up more noodles with a stern face.  “You can’t just keep it a secret.”

“You should eat yours, Makoto.”  Haru’s voice comes out garbled.  “It’s good.”

Makoto sighs, but he picks up his chopsticks nonetheless.  He’ll get his answers eventually.

**

He has to carry Haru up the steps to his house, the latter claiming he’s still too weak to make the climb.  He doesn’t argue, and Haru clambers onto his back with the kind of satisfaction Ran might have after successfully wheedling Makoto into letting her stay up past bedtime.  By the time he makes it to his front door, he’s sweating as if he’d just run ten kilometers, and he’s out of breath as he leans back to shrug Haru off of him.

“I’m going – to take a shower really quick,” he pants, stalking into the house without checking to make sure Haru follows.

As he sits under the stream of hot water, everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours crashes into him like a fist to the face.  His heart seizes up, he feels short of breath, and he feels panic bubbling up in his throat.  Why is Haru here?  Why did he feel like he had to change?  What’s he _planning_?  Makoto doesn’t know how he would even begin to explain Haru’s sudden appearance in the house to his parents.  There’s no way they would agree to let him live here – it’d be too expensive.  Haru can’t go anywhere, though; he needs Makoto.

A hollow feeling in his stomach replaces the panic, and Makoto feels completely out of his depth as he gets out and dries off.

He finds Haru sitting at the kitchen table when he’s done.  “Aren’t you bored?” he asks, scrubbing a towel over his hair.  “You could’ve turned on the TV or something.”

“I don’t know how,” Haru says, and Makoto lets out a deflating sigh.  He thinks of something, then, walking over to Haru and inspecting his hair.  Haru stiffens when he runs a hand through it, and he asks, “What are you doing?”

“I think you need to bathe, too,” Makoto murmurs.  “You’re really dirty.”

Haru scoffs.  “Thanks.”

“Well, I mean – ”  Makoto snatches his hand away when he realizes he’d been absent-mindedly stroking Haru’s head.  “It wouldn’t hurt?  Wait,” he says, his eyes going wide.  “Is it okay for you to come into contact with water?  Will your tail come back?”

“No,” Haru says, shaking his head.  “It doesn’t work like that.”

“O-oh…”

“I don’t know how to do it, though,” Haru says, peeking up at him through his hair.  “Bathe, I mean.”

Makoto sighs.  He tugs on Haru’s arm.  “Come with me.”

Haru follows him up the stairs and down the hall, obediently sitting on the shower bench when Makoto gently directs him onto it.  Makoto stops then, and he pinches his bottom lip as he thinks.

“What,” Haru says.

Makoto grabs the shower head from its holder and hands it to Haru.  He points to the knob on the wall.  “Turn that, and water will come out.”

“O-okay…”

He touches each of the bottles stationed on a shelf, naming them as he does so: “Shampoo for your hair, soap for your body – just squeeze a little bit onto your hand and rub it on your head, but don’t let it get into your eyes – ”  He stops, screwing up his face.  “Never mind,” he says, defeated.  “I’ll be right back.”

Haru watches, bewildered, as Makoto leaves and returns with a swim suit.  He throws it in Haru’s direction, unable to look at him as he says, “Please put that on.”

Haru ignores the swim suit, studying Makoto with concern furrowing his brow.  “Why do you look so embarrassed?”

“Please just do it.”

“I want to know.”

Makoto heaves a frustrated sigh.  “People bathe naked, Haru!  I’m going to help you, but I can’t do it if you’re naked, okay?”

“R-really?” Haru asks, and when Makoto looks over at him, his cheeks appear warm. 

“Just put it on!”  Makoto storms out then, closing the door behind him and standing next to it with his arms crossed.  He can hear Haru mutter something under his breath, but he can’t make out the words; he hopes it isn’t anything unfavorable.

“Makoto?”  Haru opens the door a minute later, making Makoto jump.  “You can come in now.”

“O-okay.”  Makoto swallows as he wills his heart to stop hammering so hard.  Haru sits back on the shower bench and looks at Makoto expectantly, his hands patiently clasped in his lap.  Makoto flutters around him for a bit, unsure of where, exactly, to begin.  He turns on the water, warning Haru to close his eyes before passing the shower head over him.  Haru jerks when the water hits him, gasping, “Hot!  Hot!”

“Oh!”  Makoto quickly twists the knob to make it colder.  “I’m so sorry!”

Haru blinks up at Makoto.  “Do you want to kill me?”

“No!”  Makoto turns the water off.  “Of course not.”

“Then what are you – ”  Haru jumps again when Makoto starts rubbing shampoo into his hair.  He tries to shake Makoto off of him.  “Stop – ”

“I’m washing your hair,” Makoto says as he tries to massage Haru’s scalp with his fingertips.  “It’s filthy.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Close your eyes.”  He rinses his hair out, ignoring Haru’s loud protestations. 

Haru snaps, “Makoto,” and when Makoto stops to listen, he opens his eyes to glare at him.  “I think I get how to do this.  Please leave me to do it myself.”

Makoto blinks, surprised.  “O-oh, okay.  I… I’ll just… wait… downstairs…” 

As soon as he’s seated himself in the living room, he hears a crash come from the bathroom accompanied by a cry.  “Haru!”  Makoto rushes upstairs, and his heart is in his mouth as he whips the door open, finding Haru on the floor with his face screwed up.  He turns the water off before approaching him.  “What happened?”

“I slipped.”

Makoto quickly kneels down next to him and gingerly helps him up.  “I thought I told you to just stay seated.”

“I dropped the bottle of soap.”

“So you went to get it, and you slipped.”

Haru nods, and Makoto sighs before helping him up.  “You should be more careful.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize.”  Makoto brushes the wet hair clinging to Haru’s forehead aside.  “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

They decide that he’s washed enough, so after rinsing him off one last time, Makoto rubs him dry with a towel.

As he’s scrubbing it over Haru’s head he asks, “So what, exactly, are you planning to do here?”

Haru looks up at him from underneath the towel.  “Be with you.”

Makoto has to ignore the way that set his heart skittering, saying, “I-it’s more complicated than that.”

“How?”

Makoto sits back on his heels as he searches for an explanation Haru would understand.  “You just… can’t show up and fit seamlessly into the world.  You don’t have any kind of identification, you didn’t go to school, you don’t even know how to use chopsticks!”  He shrugs helplessly.  “There are a lot of factors that go into living here, Haru.”

“We’ll find a way for me to stay,” Haru says.

“Did you even listen to me?” Makoto asks incredulously.  “You can’t get a job, you can’t get a place to live, if you were to get into trouble with the police, you’d have nothing to give them and you’d just end up in jail or something.”

“But you’ll be with me.”

Makoto sighs.  Haru only fixes him with a stubborn look.  “My family’s coming home in a few days.  My parents won’t let you stay with us forever.”

“That’s okay.”  Haru crawls forward then to press a soft kiss to Makoto’s lips.

Makoto leans away, even as he feels a warmth spread through his chest and into his stomach.  “Not here,” he groans, twisting his head away as Haru tries to shoot forward again.  “It’s gross.”

“But later?”

The feeling of being completely overwhelmed once again engulfs Makoto as he opens his eyes to find Haru watching him hopefully.  “Maybe?”

**

It’s already mid-afternoon by the time Haru’s dried and dressed again, watching Makoto work on his homework from his spot across the coffee table.  The weight of his gaze makes it really hard for Makoto to focus on his math worksheet, but the whole point of him staying home was to finish his work, and he really doesn’t want to disappoint his parents. 

Haru’s foot shoots out to brush against Makoto’s.  “Haru!” Makoto cries, his voice cracking comically halfway through.  “Please!”

“This is boring,” Haru says.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto says, not sounding sorry at all.  “But I have to do this.”

Haru huffs.  “Fine.”  He reaches across the table and takes the novel Makoto’s supposed to read for his literature class.  “I’ll help, then.”

Makoto bites back the fact that simply completing the assignments isn’t going to help him get into his first-choice university.  “Are you sure you can read that – ”

“I can read,” Haru snaps.  “I read that manga Ran gave me.”

“No, I know, just…”  Makoto shakes his head.  “Never mind.”  He knows that Haru won’t care that it’s classical literature.

They spend the rest of the afternoon in companionable silence, and after the initial shock of contact, Makoto lets Haru tangle their legs under the table.  It turns out to be quite comfortable, and Makoto can feel a sense of contentment welling up inside of him as he listens to Haru turn the page every few minutes.

He makes them miso and udon for dinner, and then Haru insists that they spend the rest of the evening watching TV.  “It looks so cool,” he says, his eyes glimmering with interest as Makoto turns it on.  He also uses it as an excuse to get close to Makoto, gluing himself to his side and resting his head on his shoulder.  He falls asleep with his face buried in Makoto’s shoulder, and Makoto has to carry him up stairs for what feels like the tenth time that day.  He’s thankful to himself for not putting the futon away immediately after Rin left, gently laying Haru down onto it and covering him with the blanket.  Without a second thought, he leans down to kiss his temple.  “Good night,” he whispers before climbing into his own bed.

It takes him a while to fall asleep; his head is filled with a flurry of worried thoughts about what to do with Haru – what is he going to say when his parents return?  How is he going to explain Haru’s sudden appearance?  He rolls onto his side, almost nauseous as he wonders just how he’ll manage to find a place for Haru to fit in his life.  What would he do while Makoto’s going to school?  Would he even be able to do anything without Makoto?  Makoto feels uncomfortable thinking that Haru will become solely dependent on him.  That’s not a way to live for anyone.

These thoughts keep him up long past when he’d carried Haru from the living room.  As he’s finally drifting off, though, he jerks awake when something pulls his covers back.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm finally back! I'm so sorry that this ended up taking so long, oh my gosh, it only meant to be on hiatus for a month or so, but... yeah. I can't promise that I'll be back to my usual schedule of posting, but I can safely tell you that it will _not_ take me another four months to update! Plus, the new season is starting next month, so that will probably keep me motivated. Please enjoy!

Makoto’s eyes fly open, and he sees a shadow sliding under the covers next to him.  It’s warm, and it’s Haru.

“What are you…”  His voice dies away as Haru attaches himself to his side, wiggling a little to get comfortable.  In the little light that manages to seep in through the blinds, he can make out the shine of Haru’s eyes blinking up at him.  “What are you doing?” he whispers.

Haru tightens his grip on Makoto’s arm.  “This is more comfortable.”

Makoto can feel himself warming up, his heart rate accelerating.  “P-please go back to the futon.”

“It smells like Rin.” He can hear the wrinkled nose in Haru’s voice.  “It’s gross.”

Makoto tries to pull away, but stops.  “How do you know what Rin smells like?”

“It doesn’t smell like you.”

“H-how do you know what _I_ smell like?”

Haru doesn’t answer, just looks at Makoto with unreadable eyes.  Makoto’s stomach feels like it’s burning.

He swallows, ignoring the way the smell of his shampoo mixed with Haru’s scent sends his heart into a sprint as he tries to disentangle himself from Haru’s grip.  “Fine, I’ll go – ”

“No!”

He stops and looks at Haru, perplexed.  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Haru grumbles, sinking into Makoto’s pillow.  “It’s – this is just… nice.”

Makoto swallows around the lump in his throat.  “Oh.”

“Is it okay?”  Haru’s voice is quiet and small, and without thinking, Makoto rolls over to envelope him in his arms.  Haru lets out a small puff of air in surprise as Makoto settles them into the dip in the middle of his mattress, but he leans into Makoto nonetheless.  He nestles his head against Makoto’s chest, like one of the shrine cats when Makoto has leftover fish.  The comparison makes Makoto smile, and without a word he presses a light kiss to the top of Haru’s head.

“You’re impossible,” he murmurs.

Haru only grunts in protest, too comfortable to make much of an argument.  Makoto lets him be, and he lets himself indulge, as well.  Just one night won’t hurt.

**

Makoto wakes up with Haru’s nose pressing into his shoulder, his leg hiked up over Makoto’s waist.  He’s incredibly warm, and even though the blankets were all kicked off during the night, Makoto can feel a thin layer of sweat coating his back.

Haru stirs as Makoto tries to escape his heavy limbs, clinging even more tightly before suddenly pulling away with a small sound of shock.  When Makoto looks at him to see if he’s okay, a light blush has dusted his cheeks with color.

“You okay?” he mumbles sleepily, and he reaches out to brush the back of his hand against Haru’s warm cheek.

Haru hums something that sounds reassuring, and he leans into Makoto’s touch.  “Just surprised a little,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

Haru studies the pillowcase as if words had suddenly appeared on it.  “Just… I wasn’t expecting this.  I’m not sure what I expected, but I’ve never slept on land like this before.  It’s weird.”

“But not bad?”

Haru’s blue eyes are shining when he flicks them up to look at Makoto.  “Of course not.”  Without hesitating, he leans in to press a chaste kiss to Makoto’s lips.  Makoto’s heart jumps to his throat, his face fills with heat, and he lets out a soft sigh that makes Haru freeze.

“What’s wrong?”

Haru bolts out of the bed and out of Makoto’s room.  Not much later, Makoto can hear the sound of the bathroom door slamming down the hall.

“Haru?”  Makoto follows, stopping outside the door, where he can hear the tap running.  “Are you okay?”

Haru makes a muffled noise on the other side of the door, and worry cements itself in Makoto’s chest like a stone.  Images of Haru transforming back flood his mind, of Haru writhing in pain as something goes terribly wrong –

“Haru?” he calls again, jiggling the knob this time.  Thankfully, it’s open, and Makoto bursts into the bathroom to find Haru vigorously brushing his teeth with Ran’s Hello Kitty toothbrush.  “What… what are you doing?” he asks.  The adrenaline he hadn’t realized had been beating through his veins leaves him a little dizzy as he takes in the thoroughly unexpected scene before him.

Haru’s cheeks are once again blooming pink.  He doesn’t say anything as he continues brushing, but he _does_ let out a small, startled cry as Makoto grabs him into a hug and buries is face in his hair.

“Mako’o – ”  Haru’s trying to talk around the foam in his mouth, and Makoto can feel some of it dribbling onto his shirt as he squeezes tighter, but it doesn’t matter because Haru is okay.

“You scared me,” he murmurs into his hair.

Haru makes an interrogative noise that ends up with more spit getting on Makoto’s shirt. 

Makoto pulls away and says, “I thought something had gone wrong with, you know…”  He nods to Haru’s legs.  “Your current state.”

Haru furrows his brow.  “How would that have happened?”

Makoto shrugs, finally realizing the irrationality of his fears.  “I don’t know,” he hedges, and even he can hear the hearty false note in his voice.  “You were just… really panicked, I guess.”

Haru suddenly colors again, looking down and away from Makoto’s gaze.  “Why… were you panicked?” Makoto asks, narrowing his eyes slightly.  As Haru simply sucks in his lips in an effort to stay silent, Makoto crosses his arms.  He recognizes this habit.  “Haru,” he says as he tries to suppress the indulgent smile twitching at his lips.  “Please tell me.”

Haru shakes his head, turning away from Makoto to return to the sink.  Makoto decides to wait, watching Haru as he spits and rinses.  When he finally straightens up from the sink, Makoto approaches him, backs him up against the counter.  Haru watches with round eyes, and Makoto can smell the minty bite of his breath.  He leans in, gently brushing his nose against Haru’s.  “Please?”

Haru looks down and mumbles, “I was embarrassed about the way my breath smelled.”

Makoto’s taken aback.  “Oh,” he says.  “I see.”

“Is that normal?”  Haru’s looking up at him now, concern wrinkling his forehead. 

“Of course.”  Makoto blinks, still surprised that Haru had been embarrassed over something as mundane as morning breath. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, it – ”  He’s cut off by Haru’s lips covering his, but before he has time to adjust, Haru’s pulling away with his nose wrinkled in displeasure.  “What?”

“You should fix your breath, too,” he says, the twinkle in his eyes the only indication that he’s teasing.

Makoto scoffs, but he smiles nonetheless.  “Do you want breakfast, or not?”

**

Haru says he just wants to stay in when Makoto asks him about what he’d like to do, but the look in his eyes makes Makoto nervous, so he suggests a trip to the newly-built shopping center in the next town over instead.  Haru resists the suggestion, but Makoto insists, and as he carries Haru on his back down the stairs, he thinks he can feel Haru’s cheek dimple into a reluctant smile. 

Haru’s fascinated by the train station, watching with wide eyes as Makoto orders two single-day tickets from the ticket office at the entrance.  He lets out a quiet gasp when they shoot out of the dispenser and into the salesperson’s hand, and he watches carefully as they’re slid over to Makoto.  When Makoto hands over his ticket, he takes it carefully, as if any sudden movements might make it disappear.  He studies the text printed on the paper, mouthing the unfamiliar names as he does so.  He doesn’t notice the turnstiles, though, and Makoto has to take his ticket and insert it into the machine for him.  As he tentatively makes his way through, his eyes are shining with excitement, and he looks like he’s accomplished something spectacular when he meets Makoto on the other side.

“Isn’t this fun?” Makoto asks, gently taking hold of his forearm to guide him to the correct platform.

“It’s so _big_ ,” Haru says, craning his neck to study the roof of the station, and Makoto has to bite his tongue to keep himself from telling him about the stations in Tokyo that make this one look like a shack. 

Haru’s excitement melts into nerves once the train starts moving, though, and he grips Makoto’s arm a little too tightly as it jerks into motion. 

“You okay?” Makoto murmurs, leaning into him.

Haru dismisses it with a shake of his head.  “Just new.”  Makoto nods his head, but after a few minutes his grip tightens, and he squeezes his eyes and mouth shut as he bends over with nausea. 

“H-Haru – ”  Makoto hadn’t expected a mermaid to get motion sickness, but he has experience with the twins, both of whom never fail to complain about an upset stomach during long car rides.  The initial moment of panic passes, and he places a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “Open your eyes,” he says.  “It’s better if you look out the window.”

“But it’s going so fast – ”

“Trust me.”

One of Haru’s eyes opens into a sliver that peeks up at Makoto, who gives him an encouraging smile.  He takes a deep breath before opening the other eye and training it on the opposite window.  He watches the green fields slide by with his mouth twisted into a closed-lipped grimace, but his hand gradually loosens its grip on Makoto’s arm.  When they finally reach their stop in the next town over, he’s back to his usual taciturn self. 

Makoto helps him onto the platform.  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Haru huffs and turns his head to the side.  It’s the only answer Makoto gets, but Makoto knows Haru isn’t upset since he hasn’t let go of his hand.  With a gentle “Let’s go,” he leads Haru down the street towards the town center.  He watches as Haru’s eyes grow wider and wider with each meter they travel, taking in the sights of the shops, the people, the cars bumbling down the street.  Haru’s hand tightens around his with every new thing, his grip nearly crushing the bones in Makoto’s hand when a bus startles him.

“It’s so loud,” he grumbles, a faint dusting of pink coloring his cheeks as he avoids Makoto’s affectionate gaze.  “And it stinks.”

Makoto gives his hand an affectionate squeeze.  He feels a little uncomfortable with the looks their clasped hands attract, but he doesn’t want to make Haru worry about it.  It helps that this isn’t Iwatobi, where it seems as if every other person knows who he is. 

He’s still feeling grateful for their anonymity when he spots a familiar blond head looking out over the small crowd of people gathered in the shopping center. 

“Nagisa?”

“Mako-chan!”  Nagisa waves when he notices them, and his eyes nearly bug out of his head when he spots Haru.  “And Haru-chan!”  He runs across the open plaza and immediately attaches himself to Haru with his hands around his middle.  Haru looks down at him with something not unlike panic on his face as he awkwardly holds his arms up, unsure of whether or not he should reciprocate the gesture.  Nagisa’s pulling away before he has a chance to make up his mind, though, and he beams up at Makoto.  “You found him!”

“Y-yeah.”  Makoto forces a smile even as Haru’s hand seeks his out yet again.  “Well, actually,” he corrects, “it’s more like _he_ found _me_.”  At Nagisa’s unchanging expression, he adds, deadpan, “He showed up at my house.”

“Oh!”  Nagisa claps his hands.  “That’s pretty romantic.”

“It’s not like that!”  Makoto stumbles over his words, and he immediately regrets them as Haru turns to them with a frown.  “I – I mean, it isn’t what you – ”

“Makoto-senpai?”  Rei shows up, then, characteristically pushing his glasses up his nose.  “What are you and Haruka-san doing here?”

“You…”  Makoto notices all of the colored bags Rei has in one hand, and something clicks in his brain.  “Are you and Nagisa on a date?”

Rei goes crimson at his question, and even Nagisa turns a faint shade of pink.  “W-we just – ”

“So what?” Nagisa blurts.  “You and Haru-chan are on a date, too!”  Suddenly, he gasps.  “This is like a double date!”

Makoto’s heart all but stops.  “W-what?”

Nagisa’s grinning now, even as Haru avoids his gaze and Rei awkwardly tugs at the collar of his shirt.  He grabs Haru’s hand, yanking him out of Makoto’s grasp and pulling him down the sidewalk.  “Have you ever had ice cream?” Makoto hears him ask.  They’re too far away by the time Haru stammers out a reply.

“Did he just…”

Rei adjusts his glasses.  “It appears that he did.”

Makoto sighs.  At least Nagisa won’t put him in any kind of dangerous situation.  He hopes he won’t, at least. 

“Haruka-san seems to be adjusting to life on land remarkably well, though, wouldn’t you agree?”

Makoto stops thinking about Nagisa losing Haru in a crowded shop and turns to Rei.  “You think so?”

Rei nods.  “It’s good that he has you to help him, of course.”

Makoto looks down at his feet and mumbles, “Well, I’m the only reason he’s here to begin with.”

“Really?”

Makoto begins to shrug, but he stops, giving Rei a curious look at the strange tone of his voice.  “Is that weird?”

Rei stammers, “Oh, well, it’s nothing against you, it’s just, well… it’s… a thing merfolk do.  Going on land.”

“How do you know about that?”  Makoto thinks about what Haru had said about luring people out to their deaths, and the memory makes him shudder.

Rei simply looks at the pavement under his feet, suddenly shy.  “When I talked to Haruka-san… when he was healing at the school, I mean, I asked him about merfolk.  I was curious.”

Somehow, Makoto isn’t surprised.  “And?”

For the third time, Rei reaches up to adjust his glasses.  It’s obvious he’s enjoying himself, now that he has new information to share.  “Well,” he says, “going onto land is a rite of passage, of sorts.  It marks the transition from childhood to adulthood.”

That wasn’t what Makoto had been expecting.  “And who says when that happens?” he asks.

Rei blinks.  “They travel in pods, don’t they?  Hasn’t Haruka-san told you about that?”

“No… he hasn’t…”  Makoto looks for Haru and Nagisa in the crowd, as if that’ll help the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him as he once again realizes the amount of information he simply doesn’t _know_ about Haru.  There’s so much the merman hasn’t told him, so much that has been left out, and Makoto can’t tell if it was done on purpose by Haru, or if it had never even crossed his mind.  It makes him wonder why Haru would be so reluctant to open up, and he worries that it could mean that Haru doesn’t trust him.  Or perhaps Haru just doesn’t care, and Makoto has been blind the whole time.  Maybe Makoto imagined any tenderness he might’ve thought he’d seen shining in Haru’s eyes.

“Are you okay?”  Rei interrupts Makoto’s internal panic, and then _he’s_ interrupted by Makoto’s phone. 

Without even looking at the caller ID, Makoto hits the talk button and brings it to his ear.  “Yeah?  I mean, hello?”

“Dude.  What’s wrong with you.”  It’s Rin.  The tension that had been building up inside Makoto for the last 24 hours without his knowing suddenly bleeds out of him, and he has to sit down on a nearby bench lest he fall over.  “Are you okay?  You sound like you did last summer when I cut open my finger and you fainted at all the blood.”

Makoto scowls.  “Why do you remember that?”

“Because it was funny watching my six-foot friend keel over because of some blood?”  Rin laughs.  “You went whiter than a sheet.”

“Why are you calling?”  Makoto mouths Rin’s name to Rei, who nods his head and heads off in search of his wayward date.  Makoto leans against the back of the bench.  “I thought your phone service didn’t work very well in Hokkaido.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m using the hotel’s phone.  Didn’t you even check caller ID?”

Makoto feels himself blush despite the fact that Rin can’t see him.  “W-well, I was distracted when you called…”

Rin scoffs.  “With what?  Classical literature homework?”

“N-no…”

Rin sighs, the rush of air creating a bunch of static across the line.  “I called because I wanted to apologize,” he says, and Makoto opens his mouth in surprise.  “I was a dick to you and I’m sorry.  It was shitty.”

“No, no, you had a reason to be – ”

“I mean, yeah, I did, you _were_ being a big baby – ”

“Rin.”

“ – but I probably shouldn’t have said some of the stuff I said.  It was rude and immature.”

“Did your mom talk to you about this?”  Makoto asks.  “Because it sounds like she did.”

“She might’ve said a thing or two on the train ride here,” Rin says offhandedly. 

“I _am_ sorry that I was distracted the whole time you were here,” Makoto says.  “I know it wasn’t what you were expecting.”

“Fuck no,” Rin says, and Makoto laughs.

“We’ll hang out again before you leave,” Makoto promises. 

“Uh, that was already going to happen,” Rin says.  “Don’t think that’s going to make up for anything.”

Makoto gives a rueful chuckle.  “I know, but it’s all I can really do.  I’m sorry.”

“Shit, Mako, don’t be sorry.”  Rin sighs again, and Makoto can just picture him running a hand through his too-long hair.  “It’s not your fault you met Haru – oh, wait, it is, because you were stupid enough to go swimming in the ocean even though you were totally out of shape.”  His voice is sarcastic, but the laugh he gives belies his sharp tone.  “No one was expecting this to happen,” he says, serious again.  “And anyway, there’s always next year.”

“That’s true.”

There’s the sound of Rin’s name in the background, and Rin says, “I have to go now.  Gou wants to go hiking or something.”

“Okay.”  Makoto smiles.  “I’m really glad you called.  Thank you.”

“ _Tch_.  Whatever.” 

“Bye, Rin.”  They hang up, and it’s only when Makoto’s sliding his phone back into his pocket that he realizes he’d forgotten to tell Rin about Haru’s reappearance.  The surge of guilt doesn’t last for long, though.  He can tell Rin later.


	24. Chapter 24

By the time Nagisa reappears with Haru in tow, the worry Makoto had felt building up has returned, and the sight of Haru with his nose twisted in distaste at the ice cream running down his hand isn’t enough to alleviate the uncomfortable pressure he feels compressing his stomach.  He tries to smile when Nagisa tells them how shocked Haru had been by the soft serve machine, and he tries to laugh when Haru says something deadpan in response.  When Haru’s hand finds his, he grasps it, and when Haru squeezes, he squeezes back, but the tightness in his chest doesn’t dissipate.  Rei’s words keep running through his mind about rites of passage and pods, and even as they get on a train back to Iwatobi together, he can’t stop worrying about how little he really knows about Haru.

“Are you okay?” Haru asks when they’re leaning against each other on the wobbly train.  “Your eyes are tense.”

Relief washes through Makoto when the smile that pulls on his lips is genuine.  “I’m fine,” he says.

One of Haru’s eyebrows twitches with doubt.  “Your smile earlier looked forced, too.”

So observant.  Makoto sucks in his lips, looks down at their hands clasped together on his lap.  “I’ll tell you when we get home, okay?”

Haru sighs quietly.  “Okay.”

Makoto squeezes his hand in reassurance, and the tightness in his chest relaxes a little when the corner of Haru’s lip twitches upward.  With a sigh Haru leans into him, resting his head on his shoulder.  Makoto catches Nagisa’s eye opposite them then, and the knowing quirk of his brow makes Makoto feel a bit queasy again.

He thinks the awkward moment is over when Nagisa starts tapping something out on his phone, but the nerves return when his own phone buzzes in his pocket.

_you and haru-chan sure look close! been up to much since he grew legs?? ;))_

Makoto’s insides freeze before his face burns, and when he looks up at Nagisa again, both of Nagisa’s eyebrows are raised expectantly.  Makoto shakes his head as vehemently as he can without bothering Haru, trying to communicate as many words as he can into his expression.

Nagisa taps out another message: _you look guilty as heck!! I don’t believe you_

Makoto purses his lips into a thin line, but the anger quickly leaves his face when he feels Haru’s head shift on his shoulder.  When he peeks to the side, Haru’s looking at him with his big eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice soft like distant waves.

“Nothing,” Makoto says, smiling even though he knows it looks forced.  “I’m just tired.”

His stomach tightens as Haru’s eyes begin to narrow.  He doesn’t say anything, simply turning his head back to where it had been.  After waiting a few seconds to make sure he was busy focusing on the passing landscape out the opposite window, Makoto carefully takes out his phone.

_If you keep asking me these kinds of questions, I’m going to make Rin interrogate you about Rei. Please don’t make me do that – we all know how Rin gets when he’s on a roll :(_

Nagisa snickers when he reads the text, prompting Rei to look up from his book in curiosity.  Haru looks at Makoto again, his eyebrows drawn together with frustration.

“Stop looking at me,” Makoto murmurs; his face feels warm with the beginnings of a blush.  “Look out the window.  You’ll get motion sickness again if you don’t.”

Haru huffs in displeasure, but he does as Makoto suggests, the memory of the morning’s queasiness still fresh in his mind.  Makoto shoots a quick glare at Nagisa to warn him to be quiet before gently leaning his head on Haru’s.  Their hands find each other again, and as Haru’s thin fingers squeeze his own, a sliver of contentment settles into the bottom of Makoto’s chest.

**

They say goodbye to Nagisa and Rei when the train reaches the Iwatobi station, remaining on the platform to wave as it departs, Nagisa and Rei waving back at them from their seats.

Makoto sighs once the train rounds the bend, disappearing from their line of sight.  “Shall we go?” he says, turning to Haru with a smile.

“Only if you carry me,” Haru says, and Makoto thinks he’s kidding, but the soft, neutral curve of his mouth and the warmth of his eyes seem to indicate otherwise.  It only takes a few seconds before Makoto lets out a put-upon sigh, and he positions himself in front of Haru so the latter can climb onto his back.  When Makoto straightens up, he tries to ignore the feeling of Haru’s legs tightening around his waist, the warm press of his skin beneath the shorts enough to send a slight thrill up Makoto’s spine.  As he marches his way down the block, Haru hesitantly rests his cheek against Makoto’s shoulder.

Makoto adjusts his grip on Haru’s legs.  “Are you comfortable?” he asks, hoping Haru catches the note or irony in his voice as sweat beads across his hairline.

Haru doesn’t say anything, just presses his face further into Makoto’s shoulder.  Makoto tries not to feel too touched by the simple gesture, but he can’t help the fondness that bubbles warm and pleasant around his lungs.

By the time he reaches his house, his heart feels ready to burst, and not because Haru had pressed what seemed to be a light kiss just below the nape of his neck about halfway up the shrine steps.  He lets go of Haru rather unceremoniously, and Haru nearly causes them to tumble back down the steps when he doesn’t let go of Makoto’s neck quickly enough.   He’s frowning when Makoto glances up at him, but Makoto is too busy trying to catch his breath to feel any kind of guilt.

Makoto takes his hand and leads him to the door.  “Have you ever had barley tea?” he asks, opening the door and stepping inside.  He welcomes the A/C with a smile, but the moment is short-lived; when he turns around to repeat the question, Haru silences him with a kiss, surging forward as Makoto stumbles backward down the hallway.

“Haru – what are you – ”

Haru’s hands find their way to Makoto’s waist, squeezing just enough to make Makoto gasp in surprise.  He pulls himself closer until their bodies are flush, and Haru’s warmth makes gooseflesh erupt across Makoto’s arms.  His lips are soft and pliant, and he sucks Makoto’s between them inexpertly, but the novice-like scrape of his teeth against Makoto’s bottom lip is still enough to set his heart skittering fondly.

Haru pulls Makoto closer as he pushes him further back into the house until Makoto finally trips over something – an abandoned pair of sneakers – and they fall into a heap on the living room tatami.  Makoto tries to sit up, but Haru leans over him, his lips warm and swollen, his breath loud and hot in his ears as he balances himself over Makoto’s lap.  He’s heavy on top of Makoto – overwhelming, crashing into him like a rogue wave, capsizing him, pulling him into the depths of the sea until all he can do is inhale the salty water, his lungs exploding from a lack of oxygen.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, Haru pulls away, his hands still cradling the back of Makoto’s head as he bumps his forehead to Makoto’s, his eyes closed, his mouth stained red.  Makoto’s own lips feel raw, devoured; it’s all he can do to press them to Haru’s again in an attempt to alleviate the dull, tender pain.

They don’t speak for a few minutes.  Makoto finds himself tongue-tied as Haru falls to the side and rests his head on Makoto’s chest, his hands snaking around Makoto’s waist to meet on his other side.  Makoto’s heart still feels like it’s trying to flatten itself against his chest, and the sight of Haru’s dark head against the green stripes of his shirt has him feeling the embarrassing urge to cry.

“Haru?” he says, and something inside him melts when he sees those shiny lapis  eyes focus on him, full of curiosity.

His voice, as ever, is flat.  “What.”

Makoto shifts a little under Haru’s frank scrutiny, unsure of how he should begin.  “While you were with Nagisa earlier today…”  He tries to swallow his nerves, but they only end up feeling like a hard lump over his heart.  “Rei said something about going on land being a thing that merpeople do regularly?  He called it a rite of passage…”  He trails off when Haru’s face begins to show signs of closing off – his mouth tightens, and his eyes become clouded with suspicion.

Makoto pushes on.  “He also said stuff about traveling in pods?” he says, and Haru’s eyebrows furrow together infinitesimally.  “ I was just… curious about it, that’s all.”

By the time he finishes sputtering that out, Haru looks almost offended.

“Why do you need to know?” he asks.

Makoto’s face goes warm, and he avoids looking Haru in the eye as he says, “It’s just, you haven’t told me anything about yourself the whole time we’ve known each other, while I’ve practically spilled out my entire life story to you.”

He notices the dirt under his fingernails and feels a jolt of embarrassment for such poor hygiene.  He peeks up at Haru.  “I just… want to know more about you,” he says.  “That’s all.”

Haru’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.  “Why?” he asks.

Makoto’s momentarily taken aback by the frank question.  “What do you mean?”

Haru sits up.  “Nothing.  I don’t know why you want to know things about me.  I’m…”  He purses his lips as he searches for the right word.  “I don’t do anything you’d want to know about.”

Makoto sits up, too. “Why don’t you let me decide for myself?” he asks.  He reaches for Haru’s hand, taking it between both of his.  “Shouldn’t I know more about the person I’ve been kissing so much?”

That brings a tinge of color to Haru’s cheeks; it makes Makoto smile.  “What?” he asks.  “Is it so bad for me to be curious about you?  Why can’t I ask you about yourself, but Rei can?”

Haru tucks his head into his chest and mumbles something.

“Sorry?”

“I don’t like Rei the way that I like you.”

The words send a flurry of butterflies through Makoto’s stomach.  Something warm and bubbly wells up under his lungs, and for the second time that afternoon, he feels like he might start crying.  He reaches for Haru’s cheek, his thumb stroking the swell under his eye.  “Haru…”

He leans into his hand like one of the shrine cats, his eyes closed with pleasure.

Makoto leans closer, his nose grazing the tip of Haru’s.  “I like you, too,” he murmurs.

He expects the soft press of Haru’s lips this time, and he smiles when he hears a put-upon sigh as he pulls away too early.

“I want to learn more about you,” he says, trying not to laugh as Haru stares at him in disbelief.  “I’ve waited long enough, haven’t I?”

Makoto feels stupid with fondness as Haru’s eyes tighten and the corner of his lips twitches.  If he were one of the shrine cats, his shoulders would be bristling with fur.   

Another sharp sigh, and Haru sags onto Makoto, forcing him to lie down, too, Haru’s head coming to rest with his ear over Makoto’s heart.

“We migrate,” he says without preamble, “usually between Japan in the summer and Hong Kong in the winter.  This year, I saw you, and I can’t explain it, but you were really… interesting.  I think it was because you seemed nervous around the waves, but you still swam in the water when the twins asked you to.”

Makoto can imagine Haru, so obviously biased towards the water, watching his hesitant wading while the twins splashed around him.  His fingers find their way into Haru’s soft hair, and he slowly runs them through it as he imagines Haru perched on a rock like Ariel from the Disney movie.

Haru continues, “My parents noticed and reminded me that I should keep my distance, since landfolk are supposed to be frightening.”  He peeks up at Makoto with a wry glint in his eye.  “They were wrong about that.”

Makoto smiles, trying to imagine what Haru’s parents must look like.  “Your parents think land people are scary?”

“No,” Haru says.  “More dangerous.   There are stories of people like you kidnapping merfolk and holding them captive for entertainment.  Or just eating them.”

Makoto’s insides go cold.  “Oh, wow.”

Haru looks away, then, and he’s quiet for a few minutes.  Makoto lets him gather his thoughts, continuing to stroke his hair.  He thinks that he could lie like this for hours on end, with nothing but the soft rush of air as Haru breathes through his nose and the mechanical whir of the A/C in the background.  His back is starting to hurt from lying on the tatami, though, and he can feel the faint stirrings of hunger beginning in his stomach.

“But the more I watched you, the less threatening you seemed,” Haru says.  “You were so gentle with the twins, and, well…”  He turns his head so it’s hidden in Makoto’s shirt, his hand tightening around the fabric.  “You were really nice-looking.”

Everything’s suddenly warm as Makoto looks anywhere but at Haru, who says in a rough voice, as if it’s taking all of his self-control not to flee the scene of such an embarrassing confession, “Then you disappeared, and I started to worry whether or not I’d see you again before it was time to go to Hong Kong.  I was surprised when I found you swimming not far from where I usually stayed, and that’s when... you…”

Makoto remembers the rush of water, the sudden loss of control, the feeling of being swallowed whole.  The ice-cold fingers of terror that gripped his lungs, the oppressive force of the water surrounding him, pushing against him, crushing him until he felt like his bones could shatter.  Makoto remembers thinking about Ren and Ran; he remembers the way their faces had flashed through his mind.  It was true, what they said about your life flashing before your eyes moments before you’re going to die.

Haru’s arms winding around Makoto’s neck bring him back to the safety of his humid living room, the press of his face against his still-beating heart a reminder of what else had happened.

“I freaked out after I’d brought you to the shore, when you weren’t breathing and I’d finally realized that I’d actually saved a human.  I didn’t know what I would do when you woke up, but I was nervous about it like I had never been nervous about anything before.”  Makoto can’t see his face, but he can feel the heat beginning to radiate from his cheeks through the thin fabric of his shirt.  “I tried… kissing you… but you still didn’t wake up.  I don’t remember what I did exactly, but somehow you started coughing up a lot of water, and then you were looking at me.”

It had been startling, seeing the blue of Haru’s eyes for the first time.  Makoto vaguely remembers thinking he was being initiated into the afterlife in the haze of seawater that had still been addling his brain.

“I was caught between wanting to kiss you again and swimming away when you saw my tail and gasped.  By the time I got back to where my family had last been, though, they weren’t there.  It wasn’t until then that I remembered that that day was our day of departure.  I’m assuming they thought I was with them, since I don’t make much noise anyway, and they just… left.”

Makoto’s mouth goes dry.  “Your family left you here?”

“They didn’t do it on purpose.  I spent a few days lingering in our last home in case they realized I wasn’t with them and came back, but nothing happened.  And then you showed up again, and, well… I figured I had nothing better to do.”

“You had nothing better to do.”

Haru makes a noncommittal noise.  “You were interesting, and suddenly I had all the time in the world to observe you.”

All Makoto can do is remember the time he got separated from his mother at a department store in Tokyo when he was six, how he hadn’t been able to stop crying as the lady at the register tried to ask him what was wrong.  He remembers the crushing worry, the chest-tightening panic that constricted his lungs, the bone-numbing fear that his mother was lost forever.  Makoto tries to imagine Haru, scared and alone, wandering the coastline as he tries to control the mounting panic.

He envelops  him in an embrace, pressing a kiss to the top of his head as he ignores the muffled noise of protest that comes out of Haru’s throat.  “I wish you’d told me sooner,” he murmurs, smiling gently as Haru pulls back to give him a dirty look.  “I was always wondering why you had nothing better to do than hang out with me.”

Haru wrinkles his nose.  “Don’t say it like that.  It isn’t true.”

“But if you hadn’t been all alone, do you really think you would have spent so much time with me?”  Makoto asks.  “What about when you were injured?  Wouldn’t your parents have taken care of you?”

Haru shrugs.  “We aren’t as dependent on our parents as you are.  Your brother and sister act like infants compared to when I was their age.”

Makoto tries to imagine Haru at whatever the merfolk equivalent of Ren’s age is, but it’s harder than he’d thought.  All he can envision is Haru’s deadpan expression and the shimmering length of his tail, but shorter - child-sized rather than adult-sized.

“So who else is in your pod?” Makoto asks.

Haru sighs; Makoto can tell that this has taken a lot out of him.  His face has gone listless, and he’s begun to sag even further onto Makoto’s chest.  The line of his mouth is thin, as if he’s summoning the strength or patience necessary to keep talking.

Makoto runs a soothing hand over his head.  “It’s fine,” he says, and he has to stifle a chuckle when Haru visibly relaxes in relief.  “I’m sorry I’ve made you talk so much already.  I’ll save it for later.”

“It’s okay,” Haru mumbles.  An odd noise issues from his stomach just then, and his eyes grow wide with a mixture of surprise and apprehension.  “What was that,” he says.

Makoto laughs.  “Your stomach.”  He sits up, noticing for the first time how much the light coming in through the window has changed; they’d been talking for longer than he’d thought.  “You’re hungry.  Your stomach never growled while you were…”  He gestures to Haru’s legs.

“Not really.”  He looks down the slim stretch of his body.  “I think it came with the transformation.”

Makoto suddenly thinks of Rei, who no doubt would find this bit of information fascinating.

“Do you want something to eat?” he asks.

He thinks he can see a spark of humor glinting in Haru’s eye.  “What is there to try this time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been much longer than I'd anticipated, but an update is an update! I hope it was worth the wait!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Long time no see~ I just wanted to thank all of you who have read this and commented - I know I haven't been the best at updating, but please know that every time I see kudos or comments for this, it really means a lot! I'll try my best to continue to make this fic worth all the love it's received so far. 
> 
> Also - I'd just like to point out, too, that I set the rating a level higher. Not for anything TOO mature, but it's still... more than a T rating warrants. That wasn't really the plan when I'd started this fic all that time ago, but it just kind of... happened. This chapter, particularly, got a bit out of hand?? (whoops) I hope you still enjoy it, though! Thank you, thank you, and thank you again for all the support you've shown! It really does mean a lot.

Makoto heats up one of the frozen pizzas his mother had left him, and Haru nearly burns himself trying to eat it as soon as Makoto has it cut up.  

“How am I supposed to know?” Haru snaps, panting in an attempt to cool off his tongue.  

“I warned you,” Makoto says, but his voice is gentle as he takes an ice cube out of the freezer and offers it to Haru.  “Please be more careful.”

Haru frowns at him, and Makoto knows it’s supposed to be a reproach for stating the obvious, but the way Haru’s lips are puckered around the ice cube makes his heart thud; it’s so _cute_.  He gives his head a small shake to clear any thoughts of kissing from his head, and Haru turns away from him to study the cooling pizza.

“Can I eat it now?” he asks, turning back to Makoto with a blank look.

Makoto comes over and picks a pepperoni off of the outer edge.  He blows on it a few times to make sure it isn’t too hot, and then he holds it out for Haru to take.  He isn’t prepared for Haru to eat it straight from his hand, though, and Makoto swallows nervously as Haru leans forward and sucks the pepperoni into his mouth, tongue catching the extra sauce and cheese from Makoto’s index finger and thumb.  Makoto’s knees go weak between the tickle of Haru’s tongue and the way his eyes bore into Makoto’s with far too much intensity sends a jolt of heat through his gut.

He pulls his hand back before it goes any further, though, and he does his best to ignore the small, wet ‘pop’ of Haru’s lips letting go as he turns around to open the fridge.  “Are you thirsty?” he asks, scanning the shelf of juice boxes and milks and desperately willing the flush on his cheeks to subside.  He hears a huff from Haru behind him, and when he looks back, he’s glumly picking the toppings off of the pizza.  

Makoto smiles, and his chest swells with fondness as it hits him that Haru is _here_ , with him, that Haru chose to find a way to be with Makoto, even if it meant giving up something Makoto knew he truly cherished.  Haru had never said anything, but Makoto could tell that he really loved the water; when they had been out at the shopping center, Makoto had had to drag Haru away from a fountain, the look in his eyes when he saw the water splashing out of the spout and into the pool below spelling nothing but trouble.  Haru’s eyes had also glittered with something like excitement when the sparkling coast had shown up between neighborhoods on the train ride back, his hand squeezing Makoto’s between their laps as if he had been trying to restrain himself from flying out of his seat to get as close as he possibly could.

And yet, here he is, sulking and eating pepperoni and cheese in Makoto’s kitchen.  It’s enough to make his chest squeeze with a fond kind of tightness, which makes him cringe a little internally.  Why does Haru always make him so _mushy_?

He pulls two boxes of banana milk from the fridge before returning to Haru.  “You’re eating the best part,” he complains.  He offers a smile when Haru looks up at him from under heavy eyebrows, his mouth turned down into what Makoto can only describe as almost a pout.

Makoto picks up a slice and hands it to Haru.  “Try it all together,” he says, and, as if to demonstrate, he picks up a slice of his own and takes a bite.  He raises his eyebrows at Haru as he chews and makes a noise, as if to say, _See? It’s tasty._

Haru copies him, and his face remains blank as he chews.  After he swallows, he purses his lips.

“What?” Makoto asks.  “Do you like it?”

Haru inspects his slice, his nose wrinkling slightly in displeasure.  “It’d be better with mackerel,” he says.

Makoto snorts, and it turns into a full-blown laugh when Haru all but glares at him.  “Sorry, sorry,” he says, grinning goofily at Haru.  “Mackerel makes everything better.”

Haru looks away.  “It does,” he grumbles, and as he takes another bite, Makoto notices the dusting of pink on the apples of his cheeks.  

**

They don’t do much at all afterwards.  Haru watches Makoto clean the kitchen, his eyes impassive as ever, and yet the weight of his gaze still manages to make Makoto feel warm and self-conscious.  They’re quiet, the screaming cicadas outside the only other noise aside from the sink as Makoto washes up.  It’s nice, though, and Makoto feels like he could get used to this comfortable silence.  Which is weird, because despite the house being nearly empty, having Haru around makes him feel more at home than he usually does when the house full.  He almost feels secure, which makes no sense at all, especially when he remembers that Haru could disappear at any moment - Makoto has no idea what the limits of Haru’s magic are.  For all he knows, Haru could be gone the next moment he blinks.

He tries to push those thoughts to the back of his mind as he dries his hands, and he beckons Haru to the living room, where he turns the TV on to the twins’ favorite anime channel.

“What is that?” Haru asks.

“The twins like to watch it. I’m so used to it being on all the time, I barely know what else to watch,” Makoto says.  He watches with bated breath as Haru hesitantly follows him onto the couch and tucks himself under Makoto’s arm, his head finding the crook of Makoto’s neck and shoulder.  He’s warm, and he’s comfortable as they watch an episode of a sports anime, Makoto answering Haru’s questions about basketball and high school athletics.  When Haru sighs at one point, Makoto can’t help but feel the rise and fall of Haru’s breathing against his side.  It’s so intimate, and Makoto has to stop himself from pulling Haru closer until he can feel all of him at once; after Haru’s blatant display earlier with Makoto’s fingers, _one_ of them has to keep things in check.  

That doesn’t stop Haru from scooting closer, though, and pressing his lips to the side of Makoto’s neck.

Makoto jumps and lets out something that’s a cross between a shriek and a yelp, his arm flying up and accidentally knocking Haru in the head.

“Oh, my God,” Makoto says as Haru leans back, his eyes screwed up in either pain or surprise.  “Haru, I’m so sorry!” He reaches out to cradle Haru’s head, his fingers smoothing the soft hair back as Makoto gets closer to see if he actually did any damage.

“You liked it when I kissed you on your hand,” Haru says, as if that explains everything.

Makoto pulls his hand away and blushes as he remembers the way Haru’s lips had looked when that happened, the intensity in his eyes.  “Y-yeah, but I’m ticklish,” he says.

Haru blinks, his stare unreadable as he processes the word.  “What does that mean.”

“Just… that… it feels funny?”  

“What we did yesterday felt… funny… too,” Haru says, his eyebrows pulling together as he uses the new word.  “But you liked that.”

Makoto feels his face burning now.  He has to look away from Haru’s inscrutable gaze, studying his hands instead.  “That - that was different!”

“How so?”

Makoto can’t believe this is happening.  “What we did yesterday was… that’s not what being ticklish is!”

“Then what does being ticklish mean?”

“Just that… when someone touches you in a certain spot, it makes you jump.  Like…”  He takes Haru’s hand and places it against his waist, under his shirt.  “Touch me very lightly there.”  Haru does, and Makoto instantly twitches and twists away, a laugh bubbling out of his throat.  When he looks back at Haru, he’s surprised to find a smile pulling at his lips.  “What?”

“That was… cute,” Haru says, and before Makoto can reply with anything, he’s poking Makoto’s side again, causing Makoto to fall off of the couch, his leg hitting the edge of the coffee table.

“Makoto!”  Haru lunges toward him to help, but he only ends up landing on top of Makoto as he, too, falls and knocks the breath out of Makoto’s lungs.

“H-Haru…” Makoto chokes out, and when their eyes meet, Haru’s are wide with worry.  

“What is it?”  Haru scrambles over Makoto so his hands can cup his jaw, and Makoto can see the internal debate of whether or not he needs to be kissed going on behind the deep blue of Haru’s eyes.  “Are you okay?”

“Get… off of me…”

It’s an accident when Haru’s knee hits Makoto’s stomach, but the _oof_ of pain that comes out causes a hurried, “Sorry! I’m so sorry” to come from Haru.

“It’s okay,” Makoto says, sitting up and smiling ruefully at Haru, whose eyes are possibly the widest Makoto’s ever seen them.  “It happens.”

“Are you okay?”

Makoto laughs.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”  He leans forward to press a kiss to Haru’s cheek to emphasize his forgiveness.  He isn’t surprised when Haru cups his cheek to tilt his face so he’s kissing his lips, nor when Haru’s other hand finds his shoulders to pull him closer.  Makoto feels the urgency Haru felt after his fall melting into a different kind of urgency: he tightens his grip on Makoto’s shoulder, and he runs his tongue over Makoto’s lip, sending a warm shiver through Makoto’s body.  His lips feel nice - warm, and soft; his mouth still tastes like the pizza they had earlier, but also something else, something almost sweet, something that’s uniquely _Haru_ , and it makes Makoto’s heart squeeze in his chest.

Makoto starts to crawl forward, forcing Haru to lie down underneath him as he balances his weight on his forearms, careful not to crush Haru with his weight.  He gasps into the kiss when he feels Haru’s hands tangle themselves in his shirt, and a molten heat settles into the pit of his stomach when Haru slips his hands under the hem of the shirt and slides them up his bare torso.   _So much for keeping things in check_ , Makoto thinks as another shiver runs down his back and the molten heat starts pooling in his groin, his breath getting rougher with each hungry kiss, each breathy sigh that escapes Haru’s nose and ghosts across Makoto’s warm cheek.  He feels Haru’s legs opening up underneath him, his hips shifting in a way that brings their hardening dicks together in a motion that leaves Makoto gasping for air.

“Haru…”  Makoto breaks off from the kiss, peeking down at Haru’s flushed face, his hair sticking to his sweaty temples, his eyes bright with something that makes Makoto’s heart thud.  

“Don’t stop,” Haru murmurs, and he stretches his neck up to kiss Makoto again, settling for the underside of his jaw when he can’t reach his lips.  He gives a gentle bite near Makoto’s ear as his hands start moving to the waistband of Makoto’s shorts.  

“W-what are you doing?”  Haru ignores Makoto, though, kissing Makoto’s shoulder instead as he pushes Makoto’s shorts down and starts palming his ass.

Makoto jumps, and the friction of his dick against the fabric of his underwear sends an overwhelming jolt of heat through his body.  Haru tugs everything off, then, and Makoto gasps when his hand circles around him and squeezes just so.  His hips give an involuntary jerk, and Haru presses sloppy kisses to Makoto’s neck as he moves his hand up, down, and up again; his thumb slides over Makoto’s tip, and Makoto forgets how to breathe, his heart on the verge of exploding.  Haru’s hand keeps moving, never ceasing even as Makoto lets out an embarrassingly loud moan that ends with his flushed face buried in Haru’s shoulder, embarrassment coursing through him, along with something else that makes him shiver.  His body is on fire, and everything feels slick with sweat as Haru squeezes him at the base, his thumb teasing Makoto’s slit in a way that leaves bright lights bursting behind Makoto’s eyelids.

He grunts out Haru’s name with a desperate thrust, his whole body shudders, his stomach constricts, and he presses his mouth against Haru’s neck to muffle the noise he makes as he releases all over Haru’s stomach.

It’s all he can do to keep himself from collapsing completely on top of Haru.  He manages to collapse sideways, though, falling onto his side with a heavy, breathy sigh.  It’s then that he notices Haru’s own arousal pressing insistently against the front of his shorts, where a dark spot the size of a 500 yen coin holds Makoto’s gaze and won’t let go.  

“D-do you want me to…”

Haru makes a noise of assent, and when Makoto looks at him, he’s doing his best to hide his pink face with his hair.  Makoto leans in to press a kiss to Haru’s hot cheek before reaching down and gently sliding Haru’s shorts off.  When he takes Haru into his hand, he’s surprised by just how hot he is, how sticky he feels before Makoto’s even done anything at all.   _Was it really that arousing, doing that to me?_ he thinks, frowning a little as he starts to fumble clumsily with the motions - it’s different from doing it on himself, and the angle’s a bit weird, but Makoto does his best, pressing kisses to Haru’s neck, his jaw, the side of his face.  Haru gasps, and his breath gets rough with every pull of Makoto’s hand.  His eyes are unfocused when Makoto peeks up at him, his attention clearly somewhere else.  

The way Haru’s body responds to Makoto’s touch makes him feel like he’s glowing inside, and each gasp his hand elicits sends a thrill of emotion surging through Makoto’s chest.  The fact that Haru is responding to him this way - that Haru _wants_ him this way, which, if Makoto is being honest, he hadn’t even considered before yesterday - makes something shift inside Makoto, something warm, liquidy, and altogether more intense than anything Makoto has felt in his life before.

Makoto captures Haru’s mouth in his own as he tightens his grip, and Haru’s hips jerk almost violently once, twice - then he’s shuddering, a raw, almost guttural sound spilling out of his throat and reverberating into Makoto’s chest as he climaxes into Makoto’s hand.  

Makoto collapses next to Haru again, his eyes closed as he tries to catch his breath.  Haru’s breathing is still ragged next to him, and when he peeks over at him, his cheeks are pink, and his eyes wide as he stares blankly at the ceiling. He looks lovely, Makoto thinks, and the sight of it all makes his throat get tight with emotion.

“You ok?” he murmurs.

“That… wasn’t ticklish.”

Makoto snorts.  “No, it wasn’t.”  He tries to turn onto his side to study Haru more closely, but the tangle of shorts and underwear around his thighs makes it difficult.  His stomach is cold now, too, and his hand is sticky, and he’s suddenly very, very sleepy.  

Haru casts a sidelong glance at him. “What’s wrong?”

Makoto shakes his head.  “Nothing.”  

“I liked that more than yesterday.”

That makes Makoto hide his face against the tatami as a blush creeps across his face.  He can’t believe he’s done this kind of thing two days in a row, and judging from the spark that’s catching in Haru’s eye, it isn’t over yet.  

Makoto sits up before Haru starts getting any ideas of doing anything else.  He runs a hand through his hair as he thinks, and he instantly regrets it, come - he doesn’t know whose, and he can’t tell if that makes it more gross or not - making it all stick up.  He hears a chuckle, and when he looks down at Haru, there’s a soft smile gracing his features.

“You look nice like that.”

The blush on Makoto’s face deepens as he wipes what’s left on his hand on his shorts.  “Stop…”  When he looks out the window, the sky is dark, and he can hear crickets singing outside; it’s later than he thought.

He pulls his shorts up, ignoring the mess for modesty’s sake as he stands.  “I’m going to… go take a shower,” he says, avoiding Haru’s exposed form by speaking to a couch cushion instead.  

“Can I take one, too?” Haru asks, sitting up and looking at Makoto with big eyes that make it difficult for Makoto to swallow.    

“N-no,” he says, nearly tripping over the coffee table as he tries to take a step back.  “You can take one after me!”

Haru frowns.  “Why don’t you want to?”

“B-because!”  Makoto’s already at the stairs.  “You just can’t!”

He leans his back against the bathroom door after he slams it closed, his heart beating a mile a minute as he shoves all of the images of Haru doing exactly what he just did in the shower out of his head.  

**

Later, when Makoto’s trying to sleep and Haru’s already wormed his way under his covers again, Haru murmurs, “We’ll get to stay like this, right?”

Makoto opens one eye to look at the top of Haru’s head; the rest of it is under the covers, his face mushed against Makoto’s shoulder.  It’s a precious sight.  “What do you mean?”

He feels a puff of air as Haru sighs.  “Like… _this_.  Together.”

“I hope so,” Makoto says, and Haru looks up at him, his eyes sparkling.  “Why are you asking?”

Haru burrows back into the blankets, embarrassed.  “No reason.”

The avoidance makes Makoto’s chest tight with concern, but then Haru’s pressing a kiss to Makoto’s arm, and it’s the most natural thing in the world for Makoto to turn onto his side and envelope Haru in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also need to stop opening every chapter with a single sentence paragraph, but what can ya do.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I know it's been a while (AGAIN), but here's a new chapter!! I've been working a little bit ahead of just this, and I'm doing my best to keep up my momentum! I'm studying abroad this semester, so things are a little bit weird, but I'm doing my best to keep up with writing. 
> 
> Also - I made a bit of a sequel to the playlist I'd made quite a while earlier to try to get myself back into the swing of things, and you can listen to it here: http://8tracks.com/jehansprouvaire/some-world-far-from-ours
> 
> Thank you so much for staying with me and this fic, as well! I know it must be frustrating waiting so long for updates, but I just want you to know that any kudos or comments really do help motivate me to keep going! I really, really appreciate anything you might have to say!

When Makoto wakes up in the morning, he expects Haru’s warm body tangled up with his, Haru’s breath tickling the skin around his clavicle, Haru’s knee wedged between both of Makoto’s as he snuggles closer - but as he gains consciousness, he realizes that Haru isn’t there, the sheets around him cold with absence.  His first instinct is panic; he sits upright, his body covered in goosebumps, his heart pounding with worry, the empty spot next to him far more upsetting than he’d ever have imagined.  He feels a hole opening up in his chest, the edges of it crumbling as he starts to think about what might’ve happened.  Haru’s name trips off of his tongue as he scrambles out of bed, nearly stumbling across the room in his haste.  

He checks the bathroom first - that’s where he went yesterday morning.  Haru isn’t there, though, and the floor is sopping wet, and Makoto nearly kills himself slipping in the doorway.   _What happened_ _in here?_ he thinks, gripping the door as if his life depended on it.  All he can imagine is Haru suddenly transforming back, hurting himself in the process - but where could he be?  

Makoto runs to the stairs, and the his heart all but stops with relief when he doesn’t see Haru’s crumpled form at the bottom, his tail waving weakly as it did the night Makoto found him injured under the pier.  

“Haru?” he calls, cringing when his voice cracks on the second syllable.  “Are… are you in here?”

“Makoto?”  Haru’s voice is soft, but the sound of it is gentle, relaxed, and not laced with pain, and it’s enough to force Makoto to hold onto the rail lest his knees go out with relief.

“Haru!”  He hurries down the stairs, practically skidding to a stop when he finds Haru at the kitchen table.  

“Good morning,” Haru says, his eyes curious as Makoto approaches him.  “You look frazzled.”

A self-conscious laugh escapes Makoto, and he reaches back to scratch the back of his head.  “Where’d you learn a word like that?” he asks.

With his usual deadpan expression, Haru holds up a book with a drawing of a smiling girl and two boys on the cover - it’s the next volume of the manga Ran had lent him when he had been holed up in the pool house at school.  “Kazuki used it to describe Chika on their first date,” he explains, completely serious even as Makoto struggles to hold back a laugh.  

“Is that so,” Makoto says, sitting next to Haru and picking up the book to inspect it.  

Haru nods. “Michi has her friends helping him follow them around, though, and I’m worried that Kazuki will see him and his date with Chika will be ruined.”  He turns a sly eye onto Makoto.  “Chika reminds me a lot of you, actually.”

Makoto’s heart stutters in his chest.  “Wh-what?” 

“She’s kind-hearted, and everyone likes her, but she also knows wrong from right, and she’s willing to tell Michi off every time he acts like a jerk.”

Makoto can feel a smile pulling on his lips.  “Michi is Rin, right?”

“Michi is more horrible,” Haru grudgingly admits.

“Then…”  Makoto feels the blood rushing to his cheeks.  “Are you Kazuki?”

Haru looks off to the side with a slight frown,  _ his _ cheeks blooming pink.  “No, of course not.”

Makoto looks at the cover.  One of the boys has a frown on his face, his eyebrows furrowed in a way that really does remind Makoto of Rin; the other has a broad smile on his face, his blond hair spiking all over the place, as if it can’t contain all of his enthusiasm.  

“He looks like Nagisa,” he says, laughing when Haru looks at him with something between amusement and anger.

“Why  _ were _ you so frazzled, though?” Haru asks, suddenly serious.

The mood shifts, and Makoto looks down at the table with a shrug.  “You weren’t there when I woke up, so I was worried something bad had happened to you,” he admits.  “I don’t know how all of this works.” He swallows.  “I don’t know what I would do if you became hurt because of me.”

He’s surprised when Haru takes his hand, his fingers gentle as they slide between his own.  “You worry too much,” he mumbles, leaning his forehead against Makoto’s shoulder.  The gesture makes something warm and gooey settle in Makoto’s stomach.

“B-but why did you end up here?” Makoto asks.  “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Haru sits back up, his face frank as he says, “I tried to.  You didn’t want to get up, though.”

Makoto starts, his cheeks warming up a bit; he doesn’t remember that at all.  “When was that?!”

Haru shrugs.  “I don’t know.  I watched you sleep for a while afterwards, but then my stomach started feeling funny again, like last night, so I came down here and found that.”  He gestures to the pile of canned mackerel in the burnables bin, and Makoto sighs; he should have expected as much, even the fact that Haru tossed them into the wrong bin.  He’ll have to remember to sort them later.  

“Are you hungry?” Haru asks, pulling Makoto out of his trash-inspired reverie.  “Because if you wanted mackerel, you’ll have to go out and buy more… I ate all of the cans you had.”

Makoto sighs, but it’s more fond than anything else.   _ What am I going to do with him? _ he thinks, smiling as Haru glances back at the manga, as if he’d really like to pick it up and continue reading, but the possibility that Makoto might want to continue talking to him is keeping him from doing so.  Makoto takes his hand, watches as Haru’s fingers respond instinctively to his own, a thrill of excitement rushing up his arm and into his chest, only to pool in the lower part of his stomach. It’s amazing, he thinks, how just this is enough to get his heart pumping faster, to make the tips of his ears burn with the beginnings of a blush.  He hopes Haru doesn’t notice how hot and anxious he suddenly feels, and he hopes Haru doesn’t notice how much Makoto is repressing the urge to kiss him.  He  _ really _ has to do his homework today.

Then thoughts of what they did yesterday start flooding his head, and he lets go of Haru’s hand as all of the blood in his body rushes to his face.

“What’s wrong?” Haru asks, reaching for Makoto when he stands up and leaves the table.

“N-nothing.  I’m just looking for some breakfast.”  Makoto can’t believe he did…  _ that _ , and in his own family’s living room!  He grabs some cereal from the cabinet - a box with a space ship on it, probably Ren’s - and pours it into a bowl, still avoiding Haru’s probing gaze.

“Are you thinking about what we did yesterday?”

Some of the cereal spills onto the counter.  Makoto’s pulse is hammering in his ears, mixing with something that seems trapped in his lungs and wants out as he remembers the way Haru had felt, the noises he’d made - 

“I  _ really _ have to do homework today,” he says weakly.  

He jumps when Haru appears behind him, and goosebumps erupt across his upper body as Haru snakes his arms around his waist and buries his face in the crook of Makoto’s neck and shoulder.  He feels him breathe in, like he’s  _ smelling _ him, and Makoto’s about to ask him what he’s doing when he suddenly feels Haru’s fingers begin playing with the waistband of his shorts.  Makoto stays still, afraid to move as Haru slips his hands beneath it and starts ghosting them across his skin.  He feels something press against his neck - a kiss, he thinks - and then his fingers are sliding, tentatively gripping, squeezing, pressing, and Makoto starts to grow hard.

“S-stop!” Makoto yelps, clumsily twisting away as his face shines like a bright red beacon.  

“But I like it,” Haru says matter-of-factly, “and you like it too.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to do it all the time!”  Makoto wants to shrivel up when Haru gives a pointed look at Makoto’s hands covering his crotch, as if to say,  _ That’s not what your body’s telling me _ . 

“Look,” he says, doing his best to ignore the way Haru contemplatively sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. “The reason I’m here and not with my family is because I spent my whole summer with you, and I forgot to get my summer homework out of the way.  They’re coming back tomorrow, and I really,  _ really _ need to take care of my homework before that happens!”  

Haru purses his lips. “Okay,” he says.

Makoto blinks, taken aback.  He’d been expecting Haru to put up a fuss.  “No funny business today,” he clarifies.  

Haru surprises him again by simply shrugging.  “As long as I can be near you.”

The frankness of Haru’s tone makes Makoto blush for what feels like the twentieth time.  He finds himself at a loss for words as Haru brushes past him, his hand reaching out to let his fingers slide against Makoto’s as he goes back to his seat at the table.  Makoto stays still, and when Haru looks up at him, shoujo manga back in hand, he says, his eyes blank and yet shining with something Makoto can’t identify, “I’m really glad I found you.”

Makoto feels like anything more will make him implode, but he can also feel his face melt into a smile.  He walks over to Haru’s spot and envelopes him in a hug, cradling his head to his chest even as Haru makes a muffled sound of disapproval. 

“I’m glad you found me, too,” he murmurs, and everything inside him feels overwhelming and glowing as he presses a kiss onto Haru’s soft hair.

**

Makoto works at the coffee table again, and Haru lies down on the couch behind him with a few more volumes of Ran’s manga stacked by his head.  Every now and then Makoto gets startled by Haru’s fingers carding absent-mindedly through his hair, or a warm puff of breath as Haru peeks at his books from over his shoulder.  It’s peaceful, though, and Makoto doesn’t realize how much time passes until a knock on the front door causes him to check the time.

“Your family?” Haru asks.

Makoto stands up and squints at the door.  “No…”  

He opens the door, and he barely has time to register who it is before a heavy weight attaches itself to his front.  

“Nagisa! Get off of me!”

“Mako-chan!”  Nagisa lets go, a wide grin stretching his face.  “How are you?”

Makoto looks between Nagisa and Rei, incredulous.  The latter offers a sheepish smile, as if this visit hadn’t been his idea.  “What… what are you doing here?”

“Well, we were in the area getting some stuff for school, and  _ Rei-chan _ here wanted to drop by to see how Haru-chan is doing with his new set of legs - ”

“I did not, Nagisa-kun!”

Nagisa starts walking past Makoto as he continues, “I told him you and Haru-chan wouldn’t want to be bothered, but he insisted, and since I like him as much as I do, I caved - Haru-chan!” He hurries over to the couch, where he all but jumps on top of Haru, who’s still lying down.  Makoto hears Haru’s quiet  _ oof _ , and his heart goes out to him when Nagisa drags him into a sitting position while managing to chatter and bounce up and down the whole time.

Makoto looks at Rei, who still hasn’t moved from the front step.  “This was all his idea, wasn’t it,” he says; Rei simply nods once before stepping into the foyer and removing his shoes.  

“I  _ did _ want to ask Haruka-san a few questions,” Rei admits, “but I also figured you both, uh, wanted to be alone.  Which is understandable!” he adds, coloring alongside Makoto; neither of them can look at each other as Nagisa continues to talk Haru’s ear off about going back to school.  “I - it’s only natural!”

“Just drop it, Rei!” Makoto says, unable to stop the heat from gathering in his face when he remembers what  _ has _ happened since the two of them have been alone.  

“We  _ were _ in the area, though,” Rei says.  “But this wasn’t originally the plan.”

“That’s - that’s fine.”  Makoto  _ really _ wants this conversation to end.  “Do you want anything to drink? Does Nagisa?”

After he’s done playing host, Makoto settles down at the coffee table next to Rei.  Nagisa still has Haru in his clutches, and Makoto can’t help the small stab of jealousy through his chest, the dumb urge to move between them, to make Haru sit closer to him.  It’s hard to help, though, especially as Nagisa continues to grab Haru’s hands in his excitement, and Haru looks like he’s trying his best not to bolt out of the room.  If Makoto could just hold his hand under the table, able to offer a comforting squeeze every now and then -

“Makoto-senpai?”

Makoto looks at Rei.  “What?”

“You looked worried about something.”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m okay.”

Rei adjusts his glasses, as if checking up hadn’t been his intention.  “If Haruka-san plans on staying on land any further, are you going to tell your family about him?”

Makoto feels his eyebrows scrunch together. “What?”

“W-well, I’ve been reading a lot about human sexuality in preparation for telling my parents about myself and Nagisa-kun, a-and I had you in mind, too, as I was researching - ”

“You did?”  Makoto feels oddly touched, if a little perturbed; whatever… relationship he has with Haru feels so intimate, the idea of Rei thinking of conducting research for or about them feels almost invasive, as irrational as that might be.

Rei nods, oblivious to Makoto’s awkwardness.  “Of course.  I mean, I don’t know much about your preferences, whether or not you’re exclusively attracted to males, or not, or if Haruka-san is simply one male who happens to work for you, but I’ve found out a lot of really interesting information.”

“Y-you have?”  Makoto isn’t sure if he likes where this conversation is going.

“Well, for one thing, sexuality is more of a spectrum than we commonly think.  You, for example, going off of what I said a minute ago, could be largely attracted to women, but in some instances, you’re attracted to men, too.  Or the opposite could be true.  Simply because you happen to be in a relationship with Haruka-san doesn’t necessarily make you a homosexual.”

Makoto’s pretty sure he doesn’t like this conversation.  “I - I never thought about it like that…”

He breathes a sigh of relief when Nagisa chimes in, “Is Rei-chan talking to you about sexual preferences?”  When Makoto looks over at him, he has his hands on top of the table, and he’s leaning across the surface excitedly.  “According to what he’s read, I’m a bisexual!  And Rei-chan’s just gay!”

“I’m  _ demisexual _ ,” Rei corrects, color flooding his cheeks as Nagisa turns his attention to him.

“Sorry, I couldn’t remember the word,” Nagisa says.  “But Mako-chan… what did you say Mako-chan was earlier?”

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose.  “I said I hadn’t decided yet.”

“What am I?” Haru asks.  Makoto’s stomach seizes, suddenly nervous about what the answer to that question might be.

Nagisa considers Haru with a finger on his chin.  “You’re Mako-chan-sexual.  You only like Mako-chan.”

Haru peeks over at Makoto, a ghost of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips, as if to say,  _ He isn’t wrong _ .  It makes something warm constrict in Makoto’s chest.  

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?” he says.

“Rei-chan is always really thorough when he researches stuff,” Nagisa says, the tilt of his eyebrows suggesting a second meaning that makes Rei blush.  Makoto clears his throat.

“Why does any of that matter, though?” Haru asks. Makoto gratefully turns his attention back to him, and he’s lying down again, watching the ceiling with a bored expression.  “Just… be free, and like who you like.”

Nagisa rests his chin in his hand with a wistful sigh.  “Things must be better under the sea, huh?”

Haru looks at Nagisa without moving his head.  “You look weird when you’re sad.”

As Nagisa struggles to come up with an adequate response, Makoto nudges Haru with his foot.  “Don’t be rude,” he chastises.  

“Okay, Chika.”

Now it’s Makoto’s turn to blink at Haru in a combination of surprise and embarrassment as Nagisa jumps at the reference.  “You’re still reading  _ Rainbow Passion Princess _ !” he crows, grabbing Haru’s legs and shaking them to get his attention.  “What part are you at?”

Haru’s face remains almost comically deadpan as he says, “Michi is trying to make her jealous with a senpai now.”

“Oh, I  _ love _ that part,” Nagisa gushes.  “But you’re so right - Mako-chan is totally Chika!  I can’t believe I never thought of that!”

Makoto groans, but the conversation keeps going, and it’s a long time before Nagisa and Rei realize they need to leave.  The sky is starting to darken, and Makoto’s homework pile is far too big for what he had hoped to accomplish today.  As Nagisa laments his separation from Haru and Rei does his best to peel his boyfriend off of him, Makoto dejectedly flips a page of his classic literature book; there’s no way he’ll be able to finish everything tonight.

Haru shows the two guests to the door, and when he gets back to Makoto, he lies down with his head in Makoto’s lap.  He looks up at him with big, blue eyes.

“My stomach feels funny again.”

Makoto smiles down at him.  “You’re hungry?”

“It’s really inconvenient.” 

“It is,” Makoto agrees with a laugh.  His voice dies, though, when Haru rolls onto his side, pressing his face into Makoto’s stomach as his arms wrap around his middle.  “Wh-what are you doing?”

Haru only snuggles closer.  “They were here for too long,” is all he says.

Makoto’s stomach tightens when he feels Haru’s lips through his shirt.  “Haru, come on… not now…”

An irritated blue eye peeks up at him.  “Why not?”

He feels Haru’s arms tighten around him, the warmth and proximity causing something electric to rush through Makoto’s body.  “W-well…”

Haru suddenly sits up, and then he’s kissing Makoto, his lips a little chapped, his hand hot as it cups Makoto’s cheek.  Makoto thinks he can feel a small smile against his lips when he kisses back, and that’s enough for him to let go of everything and dive head-first into Haru’s warm embrace.

**

The next day, Makoto works at the kitchen table, and Haru sits across from him, the next volume of Ran’s manga in his hands.  Their feet tangle underneath the table, and Makoto keeps catching the glances Haru steals in his direction.  His heart thuds self-consciously in his chest every time, but somehow, he’s able to focus, and the pile of assignments slowly dwindles as the morning turns into early afternoon.

He’s cracking open his English workbook when he notices something is off.  He can see Haru fidgeting in his peripheral vision, and it’s clear by the persistent prickling all across his body that Haru isn’t engrossed in the manga.  And sure enough, when he looks up, Ran’s manga is face down and forgotten at Haru’s elbow.  He’s staring at Makoto, his eyes sparkling with something Makoto can’t quite identify, but it’s as if they’re lit from within.  His expression is smooth, his mouth open a little, his eyes extra blue as he blinks slowly.

A warm feeling settles in the pit of Makoto’s stomach.  “Haru?” he says.  His lips twitch in the direction of a smile, almost as if they anticipate something.

Haru gets up, wends his way around the table to pull Makoto into his chest, his nose brushing the crown of head in a way Makoto can only describe as intimate. 

“I just read the part where Kazuki tells Chika that he thinks they’re soulmates,” Haru murmurs against his hair.  One of his thumbs absentmindedly rubs circles into Makoto’s shoulder, and the tenderness of it makes it hard for Makoto to breathe.

“Th-that sounds really romantic,” he manages to choke out.  Something hazy lingers at the edge of his awareness, trying to tell him where this conversation is leading, but the soft, warm feeling of Haru’s cheek on top of his head is the only thing he can focus on.  It feels good, he feels safe, secure, like nothing bad will ever happen to him, so long as Haru keeps holding him like this.

Haru sighs, the rise and fall of his chest so close to Makoto that he thinks he can hear the air move through his body.  Makoto thinks he can hear his heart, too, beating irregularly into his ears.  “It isn’t a word I’ve heard before, but I think I can guess what it means.”

“What - ”  Makoto tries to tilt his head back to see what Haru’s face looks like, the soft, contemplative quality of his voice difficult to parse, but as soon as he moves, Haru’s lips are brushing against his own, melting into a slow, languid sweetness that all but takes Makoto’s breath away - there’s a phrase he’s always thought a bit silly, especially in the contexts of the dramas his mom always watches.  But now, as Haru’s hands cup his jaw with the delicate reverence one might reserve for a precious jewel, unspeakably gentle, Makoto can feel the kiss dripping down all of his nerve endings and pooling into magma in the pit of his stomach.  He feels something solidifying inside of him - time starts slowing down, and he starts unraveling, coming apart under Haru’s lips with a whisper and a sigh, his soul opening up to receive Haru’s offering, accepting him into his heart as a worshipper might welcome divinity.  It shakes him to the core, the bliss he feels almost painful as Haru pulls away, his breath shaking, his hands trembling as one of them slides down Makoto’s neck to rest on his shoulder, the other moving up to cup the back of his head and bring their foreheads together.

Makoto doesn’t know how much time has passed, but he has to take in a deep, shaky breath himself, feeling somewhere in between a solid state and a quivering pool of Jell-o.  He feels Haru’s lashes ghost across the sensitive skin of his cheek as he blinks.

“I love you,” Haru breathes.

The words hit Makoto with the blunt force of a semi truck, pushing whatever breath is left out of his lungs.  He pulls away, gaping, stupidly unable to form words as Haru suddenly goes pink, realizing what’s slipped out of his mouth.  Makoto can only stare; his head is suddenly filled with white noise, his insides feel like writhing snakes, and he can still feel his lips, raw and warm from the kiss.  He can’t say anything as Haru’s face goes through an indescribable series of expressions, from something like shock, to surprise, to worry, to something Makoto isn’t sure he’s ever seen before.

He can’t say anything; he feels shocked, amazed, surprised,  _ elated _ \- he feels like a balloon, ready to float into the stratosphere and never return.   _ I love you _ .  His eyes cut down to his hands that somehow made it into his lap at some point.  He’s suddenly so sweaty, and anxious, and he really hopes his heart will slow down so he can take a breath to avoid passing out.

He looks back up to meet Haru’s eyes, which have tightened with fear that he’s done the wrong thing.  Before any thoughts have even formed, Makoto’s grabbing his hands, squeezing his fingers with an intensity he’s never felt before.  He’s grinning; he can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than here, with this magnificent boy who had saved him so many weeks ago.

He opens his mouth.  “I - Haru - ”

He’s interrupted by the sound of a key turning a lock, and then the stiff  _ pop _ of the front door opening.

The bottom of Makoto’s stomach drops away.  Everything goes cold, and he thinks he might get whiplash from the abrupt shift in sensation as he listens to the door close.  Haru’s hands slide from his grip.  He can’t believe he’d  _ forgotten _ about his family, he’d been so caught up in Haru, and now - 

Except it isn’t his family.  It’s Rin.

“Makoto?” His voice is loud and grating as he yells into the empty house.  Makoto’s turned to stone, nothing functioning as his brain short circuits in panic.

The corners of Haru’s eyes tighten with irritation as Rin calls out Makoto’s name again.  Makoto’s stomach is a lead weight in his gut, and a cold sweat has broken out across his forehead.  He feels nauseous.

With an apologetic grimace aimed at Haru, he manages to croak, “I-in the kitchen.”

“You know,” Rin’s voice echoes through the house as he starts making his way over, “I understand that I was vacationing in a place that has really shitty phone service, but honestly, Mako,  _ honestly _ , I’m more than a little offended that not even  _ one _ text from you showed up as soon as I got back to civilization!  Even  _ Nitori _ \- ”  He stops in his tracks when he sees Haru seated across from Makoto.  His jaw drops, and his eyes nearly bug out of his head.   _ He looks good, _ Makoto finds himself thinking.   _ Refreshed _ . 

“Oh, my fucking  _ God _ .”

It takes everything out of Makoto to clear his throat, to even attempt to speak.  “H-Hi, Rin.”  He wants nothing more than for the earth to open up and swallow him immediately, to disappear, to vanish into a puff of smoke and cease to exist forever.  Anything but this.  “You - you know Haru…”

Haru’s eyes are fixated on Rin.  “What are  _ you _ doing here?” he says.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who've been keeping up with this! I know it's been going on FOREVER but it really means a lot that so many of you have continued to stick around; it really makes working on this more worth it! 
> 
> I hope you like the new chapter!

“Why the _fuck_ are _you_ here?!” Rin cries, his voice rising hysterically.  

“I asked you first,” Haru insists.  His eyebrows are furrowed together, and his mouth is set into a thin line that twitches with rage or irritation, or both.

Rin looks at Makoto for help.  “What is he _doing_ here?  How does he - how does he have - ” He gestures to Haru’s legs “ - you know - ”  

Makoto gets up, and he places a steadying hand on Rin’s shoulder.  “Sit down, I’ll explain - ”

Rin gapes at Makoto.  “Is this about what I think it’s about?”

“Rin!”  Makoto hopes the heat in his face doesn’t show through the glare he aims at his best friend.  “Sit down!”

“That’s not a no!”

“Yes.”

Their heads swivel in Haru’s direction simultaneously.  “ _What_?”

Haru’s eyes catch Makoto’s, and suddenly he looks uncertain.  “Well - we did… that…”

Rin makes a series of choking noises, and Makoto earnestly thinks he might just spontaneously combust from sheer embarrassment.

This is so, _so_ not what he wants to deal with right now.

**

After getting Rin to calm down with a glass of water, Makoto finds himself in the middle of a very uncomfortable standoff.  Rin and Haru sit opposite each other at the table, staring holes into each other’s heads.  Makoto’s sitting between them, desperate for some sense of control.

“So,” Rin bites out, his eyes refusing to waver from Haru’s.  “Explain.”

“What do you want me _to_ explain?” Makoto, asks, exasperated.  “He showed up at my door a few days ago, and he’s just… been here,” he finishes weakly.

Rin turns to Makoto, incredulous.  “He’s just _been here_?” he asks.  “You’re telling me he hasn’t tried any funny business?”

“What does it matter to you?” Makoto snaps.  He knows he’s blushing, but he doesn’t care at this point.  Rin has always been a little overbearing, and more than a little bossy.  Growing up, he was always able to make Makoto go along with whatever it was he wanted to do - joining the swim club, letting him go to Australia, sneaking out of the house, trying alcohol for the first time - Makoto had always gone along with it, because it was Rin, and Rin never had any bad intentions.  This time, though, Makoto puts his foot down.  He asks, “Why do you care so much?”

Rin goes tight-lipped, and Haru adds, “You’re so nosy.”

Rin shoots a withering glare at him before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.  “No one asked you,” he grumbles.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Makoto says, and he really does mean it - he knows Rin is only concerned because he cares, even if he probably cares too much.  “But you were with your family, and I didn’t want to freak you out, and I don’t even know how I would’ve told you about it, anyway.” He holds up his hands, pretending to text, “‘Hey, Rin, by the way, Haru showed up with legs, thought you should know.’” He puts his hands down. “How would you have reacted to that?”

Rin looks at him sheepishly before cutting his eyes down to look at his feet.  “I would’ve freaked out.”

Makoto raises his eyebrows, silently saying, _I told you so_.

“But still!” Rin cries, suddenly animated once again as he gestures wildly in Haru’s direction.  “What the fuck!”

“I don’t know what it is that’s so difficult to understand,” Haru snaps.

Rin rolls his eyes.  “Yes, we get it, you love Makoto, and you probably made some kind of deal with a sea-witch so you could waltz up here and seduce him.”

Haru’s nose wrinkles, but Makoto notices that he’s also blushing. _He’s_ blushing, too, the memory of Haru’s confession still fluttering around in his chest - it had only been a few minutes ago, but the distance between now and then seems enormous.  He feels strange, unbalanced, like he’s suspended in a weird state of limbo.

Rin looks expectantly at Haru.  “Well, am I right?”

“Makoto,” Haru says, the way his voice seems to caress each syllable of Makoto’s name sending a slight shiver through Makoto’s body.  “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh…”

“Trying to escape, huh?” Rin asks smugly.  He leans back in his chair, his arms crossed, an air of satisfaction radiating off of him in waves.

“No,” Haru snaps.  He stands up, and it almost feels as if he’s hovering over Makoto to protect him.  “Of course I came here for Makoto.  But you’re wrong about one thing,” he says, and the intensity of his glare makes Makoto wonder how Rin isn’t cowering in his seat.  “Sea witches don’t exist.”

Then he’s gone, trudging up the stairs, each furious stomp reverberating through the house’s frame.

“Well,” Rin says.  “That went about as well as it could have.”

Makoto kicks him.  “You didn’t have to be so _rude_.”

“Rude!”  Rin gapes at him.  “Haru was about to fucking bite my head off!”

“Because all you do is yell and scream and ruffle Haru’s feathers.”

“He doesn’t have feathers, he has scales,” Rin sneers. “He’s a fish.”

Makoto sighs, ignoring the ridiculous jab.  “Rin, seriously, _why_ are you so upset about this?”

Rin takes a few moments to think, avoiding Makoto’s probing gaze as he does so.  He sighs, deeply, slouching in his chair as they hear the shower starting upstairs.  “I’m not upset,” he finally says, “And don’t give me that exasperated look!  I’m _not_ upset,” he insists.  “It’s just…" He sighs.  " _weird_.”

“Nagisa was really excited to see Haru here,” Makoto says.

Rin scoffs.  “Of _course_ he was.”

Makoto stares at him. “Answer the question.”

“It’s just not how I expected this visit to go,” Rin says, shrugging as if at a loss for any other words.  “And this is just… my default way of reacting to everything.”

“Everything is fine,” Makoto promises.  “Really.”

Rin sighs, this time petulantly. “You sound really sure of that.”

Makoto can feel a smile pulling on his lips, and he’s only half-teasing when he says, “You’re still my best friend.”

Rin scoffs.  “I don’t know what exactly you’ve been thinking this whole time, but Haru’s not out to be your _best friend_ , Makoto.”

Makoto laughs, and he can feel his face heating up.  “Can I tell you something?”

Rin’s face goes serious.  “Did you guys...?”

“No!”  Makoto’s sincerely blushing now.  “No, not…”  He can’t meet Rin’s eyes anymore.  “Not really.”

He can practically hear Rin’s jaw drop.  “ _But_ \- ”

“But nothing!”

“Oh, bull- _shit_ \- ”

Upstairs, the shower shuts off, and a few seconds later, they hear the bath running.  Rin turns to Makoto with a thoughtful gleam in his eye.  “Water doesn’t make him turn back?”

“I had the same thought,” Makoto says.  “But apparently it doesn’t.”

Rin fixes him with a look.  “Just how much do you know about him, Makoto?”

Makoto’s stomach twists anxiously.  “What do you mean?”

Rin is serious now, all traces of wit and incredulity gone as he says, “I mean, how well do you actually know Haru?  How do you know he won’t disappear at any moment?  You don’t know anything about him… what if he just ups and leaves and never comes back?  You were _crushed_ when he left for those few days before I went to Hokkaido.  And how bad is it going to be next time?  Have you thought about this at _all_ , Makoto?  Do you think all of… whatever is that’s happened, is worth the risk?”

Makoto sits back, considering.  It isn’t like he hasn’t had those same thoughts before.  He remembers countless attacks of anxious doubt, but he also remembers the way Haru feels in his arms, the way he can always feel something click into place when his eyes meet Haru’s bright, matter-of-fact gaze.  

But he _doesn’t_ know how long Haru will be here.  He doesn’t know how, exactly, Haru might figure into his future, _if_ they even have enough time to have to worry about that.  He hadn’t even known about the existence of people like Haru until the beginning of the summer, and if he hadn’t practically gotten himself killed, they would never have met face-to-face.  Despite the bone-deep feeling of _rightness_ Makoto feels every time Haru is near him, he can’t escape the fact that Haru has also been fleeting, about as easy to pin down as a butterfly to a corkboard.

“I don’t know,” he admits, soberly meeting Rin’s worried eyes.  “But I care about him.  More than… more than I’ve ever cared about anyone.”

Rin opens his mouth to reply, but he never gets a chance to say anything.  The door opens once again, and this time Makoto can hear Ran and Ren’s gleeful cries from outside.

“ _Crap_ \- ”

Rin’s eyes go wide with a combination of surprise and horror.  “Do they not know…?”

“They have no idea!” Makoto hisses, and his heart races with dread when he hears Haru moving around upstairs.  He suddenly feels sick.  “Oh, God, I’m not ready for this…”

Ran and Ren run into the kitchen, where they stop dead in their tracks at the sight of Rin.  

“Rin-chan!” they cry, grins bursting across their faces in delight.  “You’re back!”

“I am!” Rin’s voice is borderline hysterical as he forces a grin onto his face and opens his arms to accept hugs from both of them.  If Makoto wasn’t sick to his stomach with worry about the boy upstairs, he would have laughed at just how awkward Rin looked, trying just as hard not to panic.  

Then Makoto’s parents walk in, setting some of the camping equipment on the floor as they smile and say hi to Rin, as well.

“How was Hokkaido?” Makoto’s father asks, and as Rin recounts the last few days, Makoto’s mother steps closer to her son.

“Did you get your homework done?” she asks under her breath.

Makoto glances to the piles of books on the kitchen table, remembering what had happened there so recently with a mixture of queasiness and exhilaration.  “Most of it,” he hedges.

“That’s good,” she says, smiling encouragement.  “I was worried you might get overwhelmed with it, but it looks like you were fine on your own.”

Makoto thinks he hears a door open and close upstairs, but in this intense state of paranoia, he isn’t sure if he’s imagined it or not.  “Uh. Yeah,” he says, smiling quickly to mask the weird tilt of his voice.  “Everything was okay.  Nagisa and Rei came over once, and…”  He glances over his mother’s shoulder to try to see into the hallway, but the twins and his father are in the way, causing his blood pressure to increase.  “It was all fine.”

His mother’s eyebrows scrunch together only just slightly, but enough that Makoto knows he’s triggered her alarms.  “Did something happen, Makoto?”

“No…”

Then he sees Haru materialize in the doorway, his hair wet and disheveled, the yellow shirt Makoto had lent him hanging precariously at the edges of his shoulders, the stretch of pale skin over his collar bones enough to make Makoto’s breath hitch despite the all-consuming feeling that his life is about to implode in a few seconds.

Haru’s eyes are wide as he takes in the sudden number of people, and Makoto can tell he’s contemplating scurrying back or not when Makoto’s mother turns to follow his gaze, and a surprised gasp escapes from her.

She turns back to Makoto, confusion contorting her features.  “Makoto, who is that?”

Makoto’s father has noticed the disturbance, as well, and is looking at Haru as if he’s a new species he’s never seen before.   _Which isn’t entirely wrong_ , Makoto finds himself thinking.  The twins notice, too, and their jaws drop in surprise, but they stay quiet, only looking at each other as if to confirm that they both can see him.

“Uh.”  He’s panicking, and so is Rin, if the deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes is anything to go by, and so is Haru, who looks rooted to his spot, his eyes as wide and blue as Makoto’s ever seen them.  “This… this is my friend, Haru, from - from Tokyo…”  Makoto trails off, his mind blanking out into a frenzy of panicked white noise as he struggles to continue the lie.  

“Ri-ight,” Rin says, and everyone turns to him in surprise, including Makoto.  “I remember you mentioning this to me while I was in Hokkaido!  Your friend from uni prep in Tokyo… he’s… visiting his grandmother nearby, so he stopped by to say hi, right?”

Everything rushes out of Makoto as he deflates, so, _so_ grateful that Rin has always been able to get them out of tight spots.  “Yeah,” he says, and he turns to his parents.  “I wanted to tell you about it, but I know it’s hard to get cell service at the campsite, so my calls never got through…”  He glances at Haru behind his parents, and, despite his racing heart rate, takes a deep, steadying breath.  “He isn’t supposed to get to his grandmother’s for a few more days, though, so would it be okay if he stayed with us until then?  I kind of promised he could,” he adds, self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck and hoping it looks sheepish because he’s been caught being a reckless teenager, and not because all of this has just been pulled out of thin air.

His parents look at each other, telepathically weighing Makoto’s request.

“Where are you from, Haru?” Makoto’s mother politely asks.

Haru blinks, once, and says, “Tokyo,” and it’s all Makoto can do to not laugh, knowing he’s only repeating what he’s heard, like a parrot.  

His parents nod, and his father looks to his mother.  “I don’t think it would hurt, if it’s only for a few days,” he says.

Relief washes through Makoto like the tidal wave that had nearly killed him, strong and swift and capable of carrying him away, if it wasn’t for Haru’s anchoring gaze across the room holding him in place.  “Thank you,” he says, bowing once to his mother and once to his father in a rush of gratitude.  “Thank you so much.”

Haru bows, too, slowly.  “Thank you very much for your kind hospitality.”

Makoto’s mother’s face breaks out into a delighted smile.  “So polite!”

**

Later, after he and Haru have escaped his family’s clutches - answering his parents’ questions, fending off Ren and Ran’s requests to play with them, having dinner, and saying goodbye to Rin - Makoto collapses onto his bed with a giant exhausted sigh.  

“I can’t wait to be away at university, if it means more time to myself,” he groans.

“You don’t mean that,” Haru says, lying down next to him.  He reaches for his hand and gently laces their fingers together.  “You missed them while they were gone.”

Makoto turns his head to the side to meet Haru’s eyes.  “Do you miss your family?” he asks.

Haru’s eyes cut away from his gaze, and his eyebrows pull together, as if he needs to think about the question.  “I don’t know,” he admits, and when his eyes reconnect with Makoto’s, they’re shining, a vivid cerulean that Makoto could sink into and feel secure in a way he never could in the ocean.  His hand squeezes Makoto’s.  “You make it easier.”

Without thinking, Makoto kisses him, a whisper of lips that sends a shiver running down his spine.  Haru’s other hand reaches up to cup Makoto’s jaw, to pull him closer, their lips melding together as Haru’s knee wedges its way between Makoto’s, their breaths mingling between them like the most intimate of confidences.  Something aches in the pit of Makoto’s stomach, and an exciting, glittering tenderness rises up in his throat as Haru kisses him once, twice, three times, so gentle, careful, and loving it’s almost painful.  Haru’s fingers start skimming over Makoto’s hair, lightly tracing the back of his neck, the back of his head.  There’s no urgency to this kiss, though; it isn’t desperate or lustful; they’re simply lost in each other, something molten solidifying between them as they breathe each other in.  

They each pause, hovering apart from each other in an easy silence.  Makoto can hear the twins messing around downstairs, the babble of the TV, the murmur of his parents’ voices as they sit on the couch together watching something.  And all of it is background music to this small, quiet moment between them.

Haru brushes his nose against the tip of Makoto’s, the gesture so unexpectedly tender that Makoto’s eyes start prickling with an overflow of emotion.

“Are you okay?” Haru asks, caressing his cheek with his hand as if to reassure him.  “I’m sorry…”

Makoto catches his hand with his own, shakes his head.  “No, no, nothing’s wrong.”  He can hear Rin’s question echoing in the back of his head. _Do you think all of… whatever is that’s happened, is worth the risk?_

And with Haru here with him, in his room, pressed so close that Makoto can feel his heartbeat against his own chest, the answer to Rin’s question is suddenly clear.

He’s worth it.   _This_ is worth it.  Everything they’ve been through, everything that led up to this moment, feels like it had been ordained from the very beginning, and all Makoto had had to do was let the tide of fate drag him through it.  And as he gazes into Haru’s shining blue depths, he doesn’t think he’s ever felt more sure of anything in his life.  

Haru is worth… everything.

  



	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!! I've been working very hard, trying to get this monster finished, and!! believe it or not!! I'm very close to doing just that!!! I'm actually, like, a chapter and a half ahead of this one, but I'm trying to pace myself so I don't lose steam. Thank you so much, again, for sticking with me - you all have the patience of saints. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the next chapter sooner, rather than later. In the meantime, I hope you like this one!

Makoto isn’t sure how safe it is to share a bed with Haru that night, what with his family being back in the house and everything.  Although he has the privacy of his door, there’s no guarantee that his mother might not crack it open to check on them, to make sure they haven’t snuck out, that this Haru from Tokyo isn’t actually a sinister influence on her son.

Haru’s unhappy with the ruling, but he remains on the futon as Makoto turns off the light, board-stiff under the blankets.  

“I’m sorry,” Makoto says again after he’s lied down.  He’s on his side, facing the wall, but he can practically feel the unhappiness rolling off of Haru in waves.  “It’s… risky.”

“ _How_ risky?”

Makoto imagines his mother seeing them curled up together on his bed, the futon abandoned, Haru’s head tucked up against Makoto’s chest the way it’s been the last three nights, their legs tangled together in a way that is most definitely _not_ platonic. And his insides curdle at the way he imagines his mother’s face if she saw that.

But Makoto also knows that his parents trust him.  The fact that he’s been best friends with someone like Rin and still turned out to be as good a son as he is has left him with a lot of leeway that he’s never really taken advantage of.  Makoto knows his parents don’t suspect anything; they’re downstairs, going to bed, and certainly not thinking of what their son might be doing with the strange boy in his room.  

Makoto sighs.  He knows Haru is right.  “If… if you really want to… you can come up here.”

It doesn’t take long until Makoto’s bed dips, and a draft of cool air slips between his covers, causing goosebumps to break out across his lower back, and Haru slides in behind him.  His movements are uncertain, though, like even after Makoto’s said it’s okay, he’s suddenly changed his mind about how risky it could be.  Makoto stays still, holding his breath as Haru carefully places his arm across Makoto’s waist, his chest pressing into Makoto’s back.  Makoto can feel his heart pounding through the fabric of his borrowed T-shirt.  He doesn’t think he’s ever thought Haru could feel this nervous.

“Thank you,” he hears Haru mumble.  His breath is warm on the back of Makoto’s neck.

Makoto has never had to think so much to make himself breathe.  “N-no problem.”

Then Haru shifts, and his nose presses up against Makoto’s shoulder blade.  He’s warm - so, so warm, and Makoto feels cocooned in his body heat.  He hesitantly places his hand over Haru’s, on his stomach.  Haru’s fingers immediately lace through his, squeezing as they do so.  

He can feel Haru hesitate behind him.  “What I said… earlier…”

Makoto’s heart starts racing. “Y-yeah?”

“I… if you... You didn’t have time to say anything, but...”

Makoto rolls over, collecting Haru into his arms, and the other boy lets out a small, surprised gasp as he gets pulled into Makoto’s chest.  Makoto’s heart is pounding now, rising up in his throat as he presses a soft kiss to Haru’s forehead and murmurs, “I love you, too” before realizing what’s coming out of his mouth.

They both freeze, and Makoto’s heart all but leaps out of his mouth as he waits for a response.  The moment feels suspended, as if his admission had stopped time itself, and when Haru begins to move, his blood runs cold, anticipating the worst.

But Haru only moves closer, burying his face in Makoto’s chest and mumbling something that sounds embarrassed. The tenderness of the moment is almost painful, and Makoto’s chest feels brutalized as his idiotic heart thuds once, twice, his blood pulsing through his body with nothing but warmth and affection for the boy in his arms.

“Haru?” he whispers, not daring to burst the delicate bubble surrounding them.  “Are you okay?”

Haru doesn’t say anything, but Makoto feels the brush of Haru’s nose through the fabric of his shirt, the barely-there press of lips on top his racing heart.  And he doesn’t need to say anything; Makoto hears his response in the way he breathes, the way his foot unconsciously slides on top of Makoto’s, the way his lying beside Makoto not only feels right, but also, suddenly, the only way Makoto wants to be.  He no longer feels self-conscious, is no longer worried about what might happen if they’re found in bed together.  The utter certainty and conviction he’d felt only a short while before comes back to him, and he has the best night’s sleep he’s had in a long while.

**

In the morning, Haru looks so peaceful with his head pillowed on Makoto’s chest that Makoto can’t find it in himself to move and subsequently risk disturbing the image before him: Haru’s dark hair fanned out across his shirt, the faint sleep-pink of his cheeks, the warmth of his breath kissing the skin of Makoto’s neck.  It looks like something out of one of Ran’s shoujo animes, missing only the glowing sparkly light and romantic music.  

A sudden, sleepy sigh slips out of Haru’s mouth, and Makoto’s heart gives a painful squeeze of fondness.  He feels so grateful, so lucky to be able to be here, to see Haru in this private moment, and to be able to relish it, etch it into his mind so he can file it away and bring out to admire from time to time, like a precious photo.

Then, from downstairs, comes a shout - Ren yelling at Ran to give something back to him - and a stern admonition from their mother telling Ran to be nice to her brother.  Makoto blinks, suddenly feeling deflated, and a little silly for waxing poetic just a few seconds earlier.  

Haru stirs, and Makoto looks down in time to see his eyelids fluttering open, his eyes a deep shade of blue, still murky with sleep.  

“Good morning,” Makoto croaks, immediately embarrassed by how rough his voice sounds.

Haru props himself up on one hand, studying Makoto with a groggy curl of the corner of his lip.  Almost a smile, but not quite.  “Good morning.”

His hand brushes over Makoto’s groin, where he feels a sharp jolt of heat that shoots through his limbs and forces a gasp out of his throat.  

“ _Haru!_ ” Makoto hisses, immediately tugging his knees up to defend the area under attack.  “My _family_ is downstairs!”

Haru looks at him, uncomprehending.  “But it was - ”

Makoto’s face is burning, and he’s suddenly so uncomfortable, he can’t believe how quickly his mood has changed in only a few minutes.  “It happens sometimes when I’m sleeping!” he explains, jumping into a sitting position when Haru tries to reach for him again.  “It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just - just something that happens!”

Haru sits back, crossing his legs to stare at Makoto, as if he doesn’t believe his excuses.  “It just happens,” he says.

“It does,” Makoto promises.  “Please, Haru, we really can’t.”

Haru sighs, sounding extremely put-upon.  “Okay.”

Makoto sighs, too, but with relief.  “Thank you.”

They both get up, then, and while Makoto lets Haru wash up in the bathroom, he goes downstairs, where his mother and the twins are sorting laundry in front of the living room TV.  “Morning,” his mother says.  “Where’s Haru?”

“In the bathroom.”  Makoto sits down on the edge of the couch and watches his siblings as they argue about who can fold the most socks.

“He seems like a very nice boy,” his mother says, catching his eye with a smile.  “You didn’t tell me you’d made any good friends while you were there.”

Makoto shrugs, buying time to think of something to add to the lie he’s about to be caught in the middle of constructing.  “I… was… happy to be home,” he says, and it’s not like it isn’t true.  “And I guess… with me nearly drowning a few weeks ago, it just kind of slipped my mind.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” His mother frowns, and she puts the shirt she was folding down to place a reassuring hand on his.  “Can you believe I almost forgot that that had even happened?”

Makoto smiles.  “You can’t fool me.”

She laughs, and goes back to attending to her children’s clothing.  “I _am_ happy to know you’ve made such a good new friend.  You always did have trouble, especially after Rin left.”

“ _Mom_ \- ”

Haru appears in the stairwell, then, holding onto the rail uncertainly, as if he isn’t supposed to be there.  

“Good morning,” his mother greets him.  Haru’s eyes shift between her and Makoto, as if he isn’t quite sure how to proceed.  “There’s breakfast ready in the kitchen, if you and Makoto-kun would like something to eat.”

Makoto gets up before Haru can blurt the first thing to come into his head.  “That sounds great!  Thanks, Mom,” he says, and then he’s herding Haru into the kitchen, ignoring the slight confusion that crosses over his mother’s face.  

“Shouldn’t I have talked to her?” Haru asks as Makoto grabs two bowls and heads over to the rice cooker.  

“I guess…” Makoto pauses with his hand still on the button to pop the cooker’s lid open, suddenly worried he’d acted too suspiciously.  “But I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

“But - ”

“Haru-chan!”  The twins have followed them in now, and both of them latch onto Haru’s legs as they each jostle for his attention.

“Did you take care of onii-chan for us while we were gone?” Ren asks.

“Did you come to be with onii-chan forever?” Ran asks.

“Guys!” Makoto laughs as he watches Haru grapple with both of them at the same time.  “Let Haru eat breakfast first.”

The twins groan in unison, and Haru says, “I’m very hungry.”  

They let go, but they don’t stop pestering Haru as he and Makoto sit down at the table to eat.  They ask him about his legs - in hushed whispers, in case their mother might overhear from the next room - and Haru holds up a placating hand while he chews.

Finished, he leans toward them across the table with a very, very serious expression on his face.  “I’m magic,” he says, and the looks of sheer delight that distort the twins’ faces cause a small smile to pull at Haru’s lips that makes Makoto’s heart swell with affection.

“ _No_ ,” Ran says.

“ _Way_!” Ren says, his eyes as wide as Makoto’s ever seen them.  He and Ran are looking at Haru the same way they had the first time they’d met him, as if they’re seeing their favorite anime come to life.  

“It’s true,” Haru says primly.  

“Are you going to go to school with onii-chan too?” Ran asks.

Haru wrinkles his eyebrows, confused; Makoto starts feeling sick again.  “What?”

“School starts next week,” Ren says matter-of-factly.  “Onii-chan graduates next Spring, so he has important stuff happening soon!”

Haru turns to Makoto, a question in his eyes.  “Next week?”

Makoto can feel all of the worries he’d had a few days ago piling up on him again, and the weight of it all feels like it could very well crush him.  “I’d… meant to bring it up…”  In truth, he hadn’t; he’d been so caught up with wondering what would happen when his family came back, he hadn’t been able to look past that to the upcoming term.  

The twins look at each other, twin expressions of being in trouble mirrored on their faces.  “Whoops,” Ren says.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Haru asks.  His eyes are narrowed, and Makoto can sense a quiet fury radiating from him.

Makoto swallows nervously before turning to the twins.  “Go back to the living room, okay?” he says, as nicely as he can manage given how dangerous Haru’s glare is.  

When they leave, Haru surprises Makoto with a pinch on his thigh.  “Ow!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks again.  

“I _forgot_ , okay?” Makoto hisses, desperate to keep this out of his mother’s earshot.  “And it’s not like it was hard to do that, with you coming at me all gung-ho all the time!”  Haru’s eyes widen, and Makoto asks, “Why are you so angry?”

Haru remains firm.  “You should have told me.”

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Makoto says, and he looks away to his breakfast, now growing cold.  “But… you surprised me, showing up.  You caught me off-guard, and I’d… missed you,” he admits.  “I didn’t know when I was going to see you again.”

That makes Haru soften, but Makoto can tell he’s still trying to look angry.  “Don’t be stupid,” he says.  “Of course you were going to see me again.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Makoto asks.

“You boys okay in here?” Makoto’s mother has appeared in the doorway, looking concerned.  “It sounded like you were fighting.”

“We’re fine, Mom,” Makoto says, forcing a smile.  “Just figuring out Haru’s schedule.”  He can feel Haru shoot him a _look_ , but he keeps his eyes on his mother as she shifts her weight from one foot to another, considering the lie.

“When does school start for you, Haru?” she asks, fixing Haru with a scrutinizing look.

Haru turns to her, uncomprehending.  “Sorry?”

“He starts - ”

She holds up a hand in Makoto’s direction.  “I want to hear from Haru,” she says.

Makoto knows their time is up.  His mother has always been smart, and he’s never given himself much practice doing this kind of thing, anyway. He watches in horror as Haru frowns, his eyebrows pulling together with sudden anxiety.  

“It… starts after next week,” he says lamely.  “Tokyo is different.”

She purses her lips, and Makoto is absolutely certain that they’re about to be caught, and she’s going to demand the truth about Haru.  “That’s odd,” she says, and then she’s cocking her head to the side with another question.  “Where does your grandmother live, again?”

“Just… down the coast?”

“Far?  A few kilometers away?”

“Yes.”

Makoto wants to smack a palm to his face; Haru’s face has gone blank, his voice flat as he tries - and fails - to be convincing.  It isn’t as if Haru knows the geography of the surrounding area; he’s always known everything from the perspective of the sea.  Makoto doesn’t even know what the merfolk call the various spots along the coast - is Iwatobi still Iwatobi, or does Haru know it as something else?  Makoto had never thought to ask.

His mother’s still frowning, but her expression eases, and some humor even twists the corner of her mouth when she says, “You’re grandmother’s a lucky lady to have a grandson as dutiful as you.”

Haru nods, and Makoto can tell he isn’t sure if he’s supposed to say anything in response.  So he says, “I actually told Haru we’d have time to go down to the beach today, if that’s okay?  Before he has to leave,” he adds.  “I promised him.”

His mother gives them permission, but as she nods her head, Makoto can see a flurry of questions blowing under the surface of her features.  “Don’t stay out in the sun for too long,” is all she says.  “And pack sunscreen.”

Makoto mocks a salute.  “Will do.”

**

To his surprise, Haru’s still angry with him when they leave the house an hour or so later.  

“I can’t believe you forgot to tell me about your school starting so soon,” he grumbles as they trudge their way down the shrine steps.  

“I said I was sorry!” Makoto says, more a little exasperated.  “It’s not like I had much warning when you showed up!”

Haru looks at him, his eyes burning.  “Stop acting like it’s my fault.”

Makoto stops, and Haru continues down a few steps until he realizes he’s walking alone.  When he twists back, something between a scowl and a pout pulling on his facial features, Makoto dimly thinks that this feels like one of those moments in movies where someone sees their romantic interest on a staircase, and everything’s supposed to resolve itself because they look beautiful or handsome.

But Makoto feels nothing but uncertainty now, and his stomach is knotted up with nerves.  “It’s not your fault,” he admits, although the words leave a slimy feeling in his mouth.  “But you shouldn’t be so angry with me for letting it slip my mind.  What was your plan for this, anyway?”

Haru turns all the way around now, standing with his back to the seaside in front of them.  “I already told you,” he says.  “I’m here to be with you.”

Makoto ignores the way that makes his chest tighten.  “You can’t just - just show up, though!” he says.  “I have to finish high school, and go to college, and - and - ” He sputters about for a few seconds, not quite sure how to say, _I’m not sure that I can take care of you forever_.  

“Stop.”  Haru reaches for his hand, and gently pulls him down the few steps separating them.  Makoto finds himself short of breath when he goes a step lower, bringing his eyes to the same level as Haru’s, which are as warm and inviting as the seawater in the thick of summer.  “You worry too much.”

It’s so hard to speak, with all of the unnamable feelings welling up in Makoto’s chest and throat like water flowing out of a spring.  Haru merely smiles, a small smile that anchors Makoto’s frantic thoughts and makes him feel like it’ll all turn out okay.  “Now,” he says, the smile twisting with a hint of irony, “Didn’t you promise me we’d go to the beach?”

 _I love you_.  Makoto wants to say it again, but he doesn’t want to embarrass Haru, at least not yet.  So he tugs on his hand instead, jerking his head in the direction down the steps.  “Let’s go.”

They continue in a comfortable silence, walking close enough side-by-side that their hands and shoulders keep bumping into one another, an intimate rhythm that has a happy, radiant feeling coursing underneath Makoto’s skin.  He feels amazing; the late summer sun is out, the water sparkling underneath it as they round a corner and step out onto the baking sand. And Haru is next to him, warm, beautiful, and more important than Makoto could ever have imagined.

They sit down, the pier where so much had happened small and gray in the distance.  The breeze carries shouts from some children playing a few dozen meters or so away, and the smells of a barbecue drift over from farther away.  Haru’s shoulder leans into his own, and he can feel the warmth of his skin under the thin cotton of their T-shirts.  

He looks out at the sea instead of Haru when he says, “I’m glad that you’re here.”  He looks down at his hands clasped around his drawn-up knees, his heart tight and anxious as he adds, “I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for saving me.  So…”  He swallows his nerves, and risks a glance up, startled to find Haru’s eyes so close, and so bright.  His heart falters.  “Thank you, Haru.”

Haru looks startled, as well.  “You’re welcome,” he says, sounding very uncertain.

Makoto takes a deep breath and looks back at the water, unable to bear any of Haru’s reactions to what he’s about to say.  “I just… All of this, since that day, has been unbelievable.  Both literally and figuratively,” he adds with a dry laugh.  “But…”  He licks his lips, peeks back at Haru, and quickly turns away again before he can properly register his expression.  “We have to work something out for you.  You can’t stay here while I finish school.  I can’t ask my parents to take care of you, and even then… What would you do?  You can’t start school now; it’s way too late, and - you’d be so bored staying at home all day - ”

A hand lands on his forearm, and Makoto turns to Haru, expecting something abrupt yet reassuring to come out of him.  But instead, Haru looks faint, his eyes unfocused as he blinks, his breathing suddenly heavier than it was a minute ago.  

“Haru?”  Makoto’s voice cracks with panic as Haru leans into him, his eyes all but fluttering closed.  “Haru!”


	29. Chapter 29

Haru wakes up in Makoto’s bed about an hour later, an ice pack wrapped in a washcloth balanced on his forehead.  His eyes move around the room a bit blearily, as if he isn’t quite sure where he is.  Then they find Makoto, and the anxiety stretching his features melts away.

“Hey,” Makoto says from the edge of the futon, his voice soft with something like caution.

“I fainted.” Haru states it as fact, not sounding surprised in the least, as if he had expected this to happen.    

Makoto frowns.  “You’re not concerned?”

“I think it means I need to go back.  I’m… losing energy.”

There’s a pause as Makoto processes.  Then, “...Oh.”

Haru asks, “How did you get me here?”

Makoto thinks back to Haru falling against him on the beach, the sheer, blind panic that had seized him in its vice-like grip and left him frozen, unable to act.  He remembers the way Haru had felt pressed against his back as he’d piggy-backed him up the shrine steps to his house, his heart beating frantically, anxiously, his only thought that somehow Haru had hurt himself, and that somehow, it was Makoto’s fault. For not thinking about Haru’s welfare enough, for not looking for signs he must have missed. For drawing him away from his home.

His mother had been shocked to see Makoto stumbling back into the house with Haru on his back. The weak explanation that the heat had gotten to him came tumbling out of Makoto’s mouth as his mother ushered them up to his room, a cool washcloth already in her hands.  After making sure Haru would be okay, she left him with Makoto, urging him to let her know if anything happened.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I will,” Makoto had said, and, as soon as the door was closed behind her, he’d seized Haru’s hand in his, squeezing it as tightly as he could.

Back in the present, Makoto simply blinks.  “I carried you,” he says  “Again.”

A small, somewhat sheepish smile appears on Haru’s face.  “You’re always carrying me. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be.”  Makoto has his hand again, his skin warm and dry against his own.  

“I think I want to find my family, too,” Haru adds, looking down at his other hand lying on top of his stomach.  “I think I know where they should be by now, if they haven’t sent someone back to look for me.”

“I’ll take you back tonight,” Makoto says, despite the sudden clenching of his gut.

Haru frowns. “It doesn’t have to be tonight.”

“I’ve kept you here long enough,” Makoto says.  “And if you’re beginning to faint, I don’t want to risk keeping you away from the water for much longer.”  He gives him a wan smile.  “I’ve got school next week, anyway, and I still haven’t finished my homework.”

That gets a snort from Haru.  “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Makoto says again.  He gives Haru’s hand a squeeze.  “You don’t know how glad I am, that you showed up.”

Haru’s eyes shine. “Tonight, then,” he says softly.

Makoto hopes that Haru can’t see the cracks beginning to fracture his heart.  “Yeah,” he says.  “Tonight.”

**

He tells his mother that Haru has to leave sooner than expected, and of course, she asks, “Why?”

“His… grandmother lives by herself, and he feels bad keeping her waiting,” Makoto lies.  “He said he might catch the train this evening, after dinner?”

“That’s a bit odd,” she says.  “Why doesn’t he want to leave in the morning?”

“He’s just… Once he sets his mind on something, it’s hard to get him to do something else,” he says; it’s mostly the truth.

She weighs his words for a few seconds, and Makoto lets out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding when she shrugs in acquiescence.  “To each his own, I guess.”

“And - ”  Makoto’s afraid to keep talking, afraid that if he says too much, she’ll eventually catch the lie in his voice.  “Can we - is it okay if we get dinner outside the house tonight? Haru’s shy.”

“Of course,” she says with a smile.  “Do you need any money?”

**

They return to the ramen place Makoto had taken Haru to when he first arrived.  Makoto watches with a mixture of pride and, oddly, nostalgia as Haru adeptly navigates the proper way to use chopsticks.  

“Stop smiling at me like that,” Haru says, but Makoto can tell that the pink in his cheeks is pleased, rather than embarrassed.

“Is it weird that I’m a little proud of you?” Makoto asks.

“Yes.”

Makoto’s face falls.  “You didn’t even hesitate to say that.”

Haru simply smiles down into his bowl.  

And they eat.  Makoto has a thousand things he wants to say slowly building up in his chest, but he does his best to swallow them down along with his food.  He doesn’t want to ruin this last evening with Haru; he doesn’t know what might be going on in Haru’s head, and he’d rather maintain the thick silence between them than do anything upsetting.  

He can’t help himself, though, as the meal drags on.  “Nagisa will be disappointed he didn’t get to see you off,” he blurts out.

Haru takes a moment to think.  “Tell him I enjoyed reading _Rainbow Passion Princess_.  I wish I’d been able to finish it.”

Makoto can’t contain the laugh that bursts out of him.  “I will,” he promises.

“I didn’t say goodbye to the twins,” Haru says.  He’s looking down at his lap, his face hidden from Makoto’s view.

“Hey.”  Makoto nudges his foot under the table.  “They’ll understand.”

“I’m sure they will.”

“I’m sorry for bringing all of that up,” Makoto says.  

Haru shakes his head.  “It’s okay.”

Makoto notices his empty bowl.  “Should we go?”

**

They wait out sunset on the sand, side by side.  There are a few other couples out, walking along the edge of the surf, and a few families, too, running around one last time before finally returning home.  Even though the summer is in its final death throes, Makoto can still feel the day’s residual heat radiating out of the sand beneath him, and it soaks into his body, warming his bones.

Haru stretches his legs out in front of them, lets the water splash over his toes.  His hand inches across the space between them, seeking out Makoto’s fingers.

“Are you ready?” Makoto asks.

Haru purses his lips; he nods.  Makoto’s throat is beginning to feel swollen.

He breathes in, looking down at their hands clasped between them.  “I’ll miss you,” he says.

Haru lies down on the sand, and he pulls Makoto back to join him.  “Wait for the sky to get dark,” he murmurs.  “We’ll have time for that later.”

Makoto swallows thickly.  The sky above him has begun to fade to purple.  A few hazy clouds linger lazily.  

He focuses on the feeling of Haru’s fingers pressed against his, the weight of his palm, the warmth of his skin, the scratch of sand grains beneath and between them.  He tries to hear Haru breathe, to separate his sounds from the sounds of the waves crashing next to them.  He looks at him, traces the lines of his profile with his eyes, burns them into his memory - the soft curve of his cheek, the curl of an eyelash, the plush rise and fall of his lips.  He thinks about the way Haru had felt next to him that morning, and he tries to feel it in the way Haru’s lying next to him now.  He wants to absorb it, internalize it in a way that he can save for later, rationing it out like water in a desert.

It’s all he can do to remain where he is, to maintain the space between them.  Before he knows it, Haru will be gone, and Makoto will have to walk back to his house, pretending that a piece of him hasn’t been carved out of his chest.  He’d always thought that the idea of someone’s heart breaking was an exaggeration, but as the sun slowly sinks below the horizon and his time with Haru draws closer and closer to its end, his own heart feels like it might actually break in half, the pain in his chest so sharp it almost hurts to breathe.

Haru turns to him then, his eyes an unbelievable, beautiful shade of blue.  “It’s almost time.”

“When will you be back?”

He bites his lip. “I don’t know.”

Makoto’s grip tightens on his hand; he isn’t ready to let go.  

“I _will_ come back,” Haru says.  His eyes don’t waver from Makoto’s.  “I promise.”

They sit up.  Before Haru stands, though, Makoto places a restraining hand on his arm.  “Hold on,” he says.  Avoiding Haru’s curious gaze, he takes his green watch off of his wrist and hands it to Haru.  “To - to remember me,” he explains.

Haru’s mouth falls open in surprise.  “But - your other one - ”

“Is broken, I know,” Makoto says.  He fastens it around Haru's wrist, his fingers gentle against the pale, thin skin.  “But I can buy a new one. Again. I want you to have this.”

Haru’s eyes are brimming with something Makoto can’t name.  “Thank you,” he says.

Makoto swivels his head around, making sure they’re finally alone.  The sky has gone dark, and the ocean glimmers blackly before them.  

“Okay,” he says.  “I think it’s time.”

Haru nods.  He stands up, and without preamble, begins to undress.

Makoto lets out a surprised yelp.  “Warn me first!”

Haru scoffs.  “It’s not like it matters.”

When he’s finished, he gives Makoto one last look before taking his first step towards the water.

“Wait,” Makoto blurts.  He stands, too, feeling a little awkward with Haru naked in front of him.  

“What?”

“I just - ”  Makoto’s heart is racing.  “I’ll walk with you.  At least, as far as I can go without getting my shorts wet.”

Haru surprises him with a smile.  “The first night we spoke, you fell in the water.”

Makoto remembers the cold he had suffered after that.  “It feels like such a long time ago, doesn’t it?” he asks.

Haru looks down at his feet, his face thoughtful.  “It does.”

Makoto takes his hand.  “Let’s go.”

The water’s colder than Makoto had expected, giving rise to goosebumps as he stops at the knee-deep point.  He hugs his arms to himself as Haru continues without him, his pale skin glowing in the late evening light.  

He stops a few meters away and sinks into the water, until only his head and shoulders remain visible.  He turns around to face Makoto again.

“I’ll be back,” he says again, and Makoto watches with disbelief as the water around Haru begins to bubble, practically steaming, almost glowing like something from one of the twins’ anime.  Haru’s face tenses in discomfort for a few seconds, and then, almost as if it occurred at the very edges of Makoto’s awareness, a flash of a gray fin appears in the corner of his eye.

“You - you’re - ”

Haru propels himself closer to Makoto, stopping when the water gets too shallow.  Makoto squats down to meet him, ignoring the water that sloshes over his legs.  When Haru kisses him, it’s as powerful as the tide that had carried Makoto towards him all those weeks ago - it’s the crashing of waves, the blood singing in Makoto’s veins; it tastes of salt, of mackerel, of the three words Makoto longs to say over, and over, and over again.

He says them when they pull apart, his hands and heart dreading the moment they have to let go.  He says them again as Haru leans his forehead against Makoto’s, his eyes closed, his hand resting at the nape of Makoto’s neck. They burn in his chest, consuming him from the inside out.

“I should go,” Haru says.  “You’re going to get sick again.”

Makoto doesn’t want to let go.  “Come back soon.”

“I will.”

Another kiss, this one a sloppy, hurried press of lips, and then he’s gone, diving into the surf, leaving Makoto on the brink of shattering.

**

It’s later than he thought it would be by the time he gets home.  He closes the door quietly behind him, hoping he can sneak up to his room so he can mope in peace.

He isn’t afforded such a luxury.

“Makoto?”  His mother pokes her head out from the kitchen.  

“Hi, Mom.”

She comes into the hallway.  “What’s wrong?  Did Haru catch his train?”

The lie crashes into Makoto like an angry fist.  He feels guilty, and tired.  “Um.”  He clears his throat.  “Yeah.  He did.”

She ushers him into the kitchen.  “Come have some tea.  You look like you did after your cat died when you were seven.”

He lets her steer him to the table without a word.  He watches her turn off the drama she’d been watching before he’d come in, watches her fuss with the kettle, take a set of cups out of the cabinet, and as he watches her arrange them on a tray, his heart feels heavy with the familiarity of it all. He hadn’t realized that he’d missed this, that he hadn’t allowed himself to be fussed over the whole time he’s been preoccupied with Haru.  And as she puts the finishing touches on the brew, carefully watching the time before gently removing the tea bags, too focused to push away the hair hanging low over her face, he knows that she’s missed this, too.

“So,” she says, setting everything down in front of him.  She sits across from him, brushes her bangs off of her forehead, folds her hands together.  “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Makoto buys himself some time, pouring himself a cup.  He watches the steam rise from the surface for a few seconds before speaking.  “I don’t know if I can.”

Her voice is gentle. “You know you can tell me anything.”

He looks across the table at her, waiting so patiently, and he realizes that she’s been waiting for him to open up to her this whole time, ever since the accident.  And instead, he’s only compounded secret upon secret, lie upon lie, until he’s reached this point, where the weight of it all is almost unbearable.  He has two terms left of high school before he leaves for university, and it finally hits him that he only has two terms’ worth of time here, at home, before becoming an adult.  

And he just… _caves_.  He sinks into the table, his tea cupped between his hands, and starts to tell her everything.  About Haru - how he saved him, how Makoto had snuck out to visit him, how he’d found him under the pier, how he’d taken care of him, how Nagisa had found out, and then Rei, and then Rin.  He tells her about Haru’s stubbornness, his pickiness when it comes to food, his weird sense of humor, his affinity for the twins.  He tells her about how Haru simply showed up with his legs, how he’d said he’d done it to be with Makoto.  He does his best to explain it all as best as he can - the fact that Haru isn’t completely human, his magic - even his utter preciousness to Makoto.

And she listens.  She listens to his story, a cup of her own tea between her hands, patient, quiet, and open, and doing her best to minimize her shock and surprise.  When Makoto reaches the end, he can’t help the way his voice falters, or the one or two tears that slip out of his eyes, and she reaches across the table to put one of her hands over his, and squeeze.

“I knew Haru had to be special when I met him,” she says.  “I just wasn’t sure how.”

Makoto does everything he can not to sniffle like one of the twins on the tail end of a crying spell.  “Do - do you believe me?”

She raises an eyebrow.  “That’d be a very elaborate story to make up for a boy that you like,” she says.

“And you’re - ” He clears his throat.  “You’re okay with - with everything?”

“You’re my son,” she says, as if that explains everything.  “And I love you.  I almost had you taken away from me once.  I wouldn’t push you away for something you can’t change about yourself.”

He gapes, not quite believing that this is actually happening.  He also tries not to think about the way he’d woken up this morning, with Haru tangled up in his sheets.  

“What… what about Dad?” he asks, remembering that his father is probably asleep in his room.  

“We don’t have to tell him anything,” his mother says.  “You can tell him when you’re ready.”

He nods.  He can do that.  

She takes a sip of her tea, eyeing him over the rim of her cup.  “He became really important to you, didn’t he?”

He nods miserably, and that’s when she finally gets up, circling the table to pull him into a hug.  “It’s okay,” she says, stroking his hair as he lets out a choked-up sob.  “It’ll be fine.  He’ll be back.  I can feel it.”

He lets her hold him, lets her reassure him that Haru will return, that only good things are in store for him.  And as he quiets down, as the thickness in his throat begins to subside, he begins to think that he might just believe her.

He tries not to think about going to bed alone that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO CLOSE to finishing this!! Unfortunately, though, I've started my final year of uni, and I have two theses to write and grad school exams to take, and it's eating up all of my time ;_; I hope you enjoyed this addition, though, and I'll do my best to keep up the good work!


	30. Chapter 30

The fall term begins with little fanfare, and it feels a bit anticlimatic after the summer Makoto’s had.  He sits through the familiar assemblies and teacher introductions, sits with the same classmates he’s sat with since elementary school, eats lunch with the same two friends, and yet nothing feels the same at all.  He feels it at a molecular level, as if every cell in his body has been replaced since he last set foot in the school’s hallways. Everyone speaks to him like they did at the beginning of summer; some are curious about the drowning incident, but most are nice, polite - normal.  But Makoto no longer feels like he belongs.  He keeps his secret burning inside his chest, tormenting him through lessons, through lunch, through the noisy breaks in between.  It takes everything in him to continue to go through the motions - school, cram school, exam preparations, university research.  It takes everything in him to keep caring, too.  Without Haru right there beside him, everything he had been so passionate about before simply seems dull.

“Cheer up, Mako-chan!” Nagisa urges him one day at lunch.  He and Rei sit next to each other, their knees touching with an unconscious familiarity that makes Makoto’s heart constrict.  “In less than a year, you’ll be studying to be a vet in some big city, with all kinds of cool new friends - Ow!” He rubs his arm where Rei had whacked him.  “Rei-chan!”

“He isn’t sad about graduating,” Rei snaps.  “Stop blabbering about his future.”

“I’m not _blabbering_ \- ”

“Guys,” Makoto interrupts, smiling.  “It’s okay.   _I’m_ okay.”

“No, you’re not,” Rei says, frowning.  

And he isn’t; Makoto knows this, but he keeps hoping that the more he says it, the more likely it might be that he could believe it.  It’s only been three weeks since he took Haru home, but everything since then has felt sluggish, tedious, and joyless.  The twins have done everything they can to cheer him up - Ran gave him manga recommendations, but they only reminded him that Haru never finished the shoujou manga she’d lent to him on a whim; Ren had tried making Makoto play all of his video games with him, but the very first one had featured an underwater level that reminded Makoto too much of where Haru had come from.  His mother has even tried to help lessen the heartache, making him his favorite meals, and making sure the fridge is stocked with his favorite juice flavors, but it’s only made Makoto more miserable - he feels guilty, not being able to appreciate the efforts his family has gone through.

“I just need more time,” he says, though Nagisa and Rei hardly appear to believe him.  “Seriously.”

“Well,” Nagisa huffs sulkily around a bite of the weird, sugary bread  from the cafeteria.  “At least you’ll be done with high school soon, and you can become a vet like you’ve always wanted.”

Makoto actually smiles, surprising both himself and his friends. “Actually,” he says.  “I’ve been thinking of doing something else recently.”

**

“ _Marine biology_?” His homeroom teacher gapes at him, shocked.  

“I know it’s really late to suddenly change my list of schools to apply to, but I got really interested in it over the summer,” Makoto explains.  “And it’s still early this term,” he continues, growing more and more nervous as his teacher’s face continues to remain the same, “S-so if I move quickly enough, I won’t fall behind my classmates.”

“H-have you taken any early entrance exams yet?” she asks, suddenly shifting gears to get down to business.  She takes her pencil from behind her ear and grabs the nearest piece of paper.  “How much research have you done on different programs?”

“N-no, and... a little,” he says.

She looks up at him from her notes.  “Do you still want to go to Tokyo?”

“Not necessarily,” he says.  He’s twisting his hands under the table, and his foot won’t stop jittering up and down.  “There’s a school in Kyoto that has a really good research program, and another school in Okayama.  I - I’m not totally sure what their applications look like, though.  Or what scores they require...”

She sighs sharply.  “Okay, Tachibana-kun,” she says.  “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

**

The seasons shift.  The air cools, the humidity disappears, and the leaves begin to change.  Then they begin to fall, everyone starts breaking out their heavier jackets, and Christmas and the New Year become the big things on everyone’s mind.  

Makoto embraces the colder weather; it’s easier to push Haru back into his memory when the weather isn’t a constant reminder of their time together, of warm sand, the taste of salt on Haru’s lips, or Haru’s eyes, shining bluer than anything Makoto’s seen.  Instead, he has soft gray skies, cool, brisk air, and a steel-dark ocean with no hints of anything extraordinary under its surface.  

And he gets on with his life.  He takes his entrance exams.  He applies to schools in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Okayama.  He talks to Rin on the phone, finds out about the swimming scholarships schools all over the place are throwing at him, and he congratulates him.  Rin feigns humility the whole time, but Makoto knows he’s far more excited and proud than he’d ever let on.   _He_ feels excited for Rin, too; he’s been dreaming of this since they were small kids at the local swim club. Makoto had always been so in awe of his friend, of the certainty with which he simply _knew_ he was going to become one of the best.  Even when Rin had left Makoto to go to Australia, the pain of separation had been mitigated by Makoto’s belief that Rin would find success there.  And, as Rin rattles off the different places he may end up living, it seems that he did.

He does his best to act normal when Rin comes back for the New Year, but he doesn’t think he does a very good job of it.  He still misses Haru, and it seems that Rin can tell, from the way he gives Makoto a reassuring pat on the shoulder when they exchange Christmas gifts.

“You’ll be okay,” he says, and his smile is supportive, if a little awkward.

His gift is a book on extreme sea life.  “Oh, wow,” Makoto breathes, his hand tracing the drawings of strange-looking fish.  “Rin, this is…”

“I just saw it randomly.”  The tips of Rin’s ears are turning pink as he tries to put on an unaffected front.  “I knew you were thinking of changing your studies, and I saw it.”  He looks away. “It’s not a big deal.”

Makoto feels a grin stretching his face as he flips through it.  “It’s in Japanese,” he says.  “They have Japanese books in Australia?”  

Rin rolls his eyes.  “I found it online, okay?”

Makoto can’t help himself, and pulls Rin into a one-armed hug. “Thank you, Rin,” he says.  His friend tries to protest, but he only pulls him in tighter before letting him go.  “I don’t think my gift is as thoughtful,” he continues, grabbing the wrapped package from the table behind him.  “But I figured you’d be able to use it well.”

Rin’s eyes light up when he sees what’s inside.  “ _Dude_ ,” he says.  “These are _sick_.”

He inspects the hand paddles, flipping the box over to read the description on the other side.  “I remembered you complaining about the paddles you have now,” Makoto explains.  “And I was at the sporting goods store a few weeks back, and I saw them and thought I’d get them for you.”

Rin’s doing his best not to look too touched, but Makoto can tell that he made a wonderful decision.  

He punches his arm.  “Thanks, Makoto.”

Makoto’s still smiling, but he can feel it falter as his thoughts veer into dangerous territory.  He can’t help but wonder what Haru could be up to right now, how or if mermaids celebrate this time of year, if they even recognize it on their calendar.  He doesn’t even know _where_ Haru might be - if he’s still off of China’s southern coast, or if he’s begun his journey back.

“Hey,” Rin says.  “He said he’d come back.”

Makoto shrugs.  Suddenly, his book isn’t as fascinating as it had been a minute or so ago.  “He’s still gone,” he says.

They’re interrupted by the twins, who blow through the kitchen, Ren chasing Ran as she runs off with one of his new toys.  Makoto urges them to stop, but as they scramble upstairs, he decides it’s better left to his parents to sort them out.  

**

When it’s time for Hatsumode, Makoto and Rin meet Nagisa and Rei at the shrine.  It’s packed with people in kimono standing in line for their omikuji, everyone hoping for a good fortune to start their year off.  They get theirs after dropping their five yen coins into the collection box, and Makoto studies his with a nervous edge, more than a little afraid to open it.  Last year, his fortune had predicted great challenges, and even though he’d tied it to one of the shrine’s pine trees in the hope that it wouldn’t come true, he’d still nearly died.  Of course, he also met Haru precisely _by_ nearly dying, but the thought of death still makes Makoto seize with anxiety; he may be nearly finished with high school, but he’s still a coward.

He unfurls his fortune, and lets out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.  It’s - not _good_ , but definitely not ominous.  He has good prospects for his schoolwork, and along the bottom the priest had written, _All comes at the proper time to he who knows how to wait._  

He smiles when he hears Rin and Nagisa groan at their fortunes, and it grows when Rei starts commenting on the many different ways one can actually interpret his or her fortune.  He folds his own up and stows it in the secret pocket his mother had sewn into his kimono long ago, doing his best to still the hopeful beating of his heart.

**

Spring arrives, and with it, Makoto’s acceptance into the universities in Kyoto and Tokyo, as well as his graduation.  His parents buy him a new suit for the ceremony, as well as a tie and some new shoes.  As much as he tries to wave away all of the extra attention, his mother refuses to curb her fussing over him, insisting that all of it is necessary.

The day of the ceremony finds him queasy with nerves, and he walks up to the school’s auditorium going through the previous day’s rehearsal again and again in his head.  He isn’t sure why he’s so worried - perhaps it’s the fact that this is his final day as a high schooler, and afterwards he has to step out on his own to the great, unknowable world of adulthood. It could also be that, at rehearsal, someone had asked about tripping on stage, and that had set off a cascade of worry through Makoto’s thoughts.

Nagisa and Rei are there, too, and Makoto makes a mental note to ask his mother for duplicates of all of the pictures they take, in case he gets a chance to show Haru sometime in the future.  He tries not to think about what Haru might say at the sight of Makoto in a suit, nor does he want to think about the gleam Haru might get in his eye, or the way his lips might curl with appreciation.  

He has to focus on not tripping in his new shoes.

**

Before he leaves for university, Makoto returns to the spot where everything had begun.  He sits on the sand, his knees drawn up to his chest, and he watches the water.  A few cherry blossoms have managed to blow across the street and beach to mingle with the waves, and Makoto studies them, watching some of them sink beneath the seafoam, never to reappear.He can hear distant music playing on the faraway pier, but he tunes it out, listening instead to the whisper of waves, the calls of seabirds, and the distant splash of fins.

**

Then, he moves to Kyoto.

His father rents a car to drive him there, and he helps Makoto move into the apartment he’d managed to find online.  It’s a small studio, the main room barely large enough for Makoto to spin in a circle with his arms outstretched.  None of it really seems real, even as he rolls out his new futon, stocks his closet-sized kitchen with a few pans and plates, organizes a study area in a corner by the window, and buys a small TV to go on the other side of the room.  It isn’t until his father has left, and he’s preparing for classes that it finally begins to sink in; it isn’t until he steps foot into his first class - General Biology - that the reality of it all really crashes down.   _I’m actually doing this_ , he thinks as his professor begins to scrawl information on the blackboard behind him.   _I’m really_ doing _this_.

It’s busy, being a university student, but Makoto enjoys the challenge, and as he makes new friends, he enjoys the social side of things, as well.  He gets regular updates from Rin, who decided to stay in Australia with a swimming scholarship to one of its best schools.  He still misses his best friend, but with Makoto’s new laptop, they manage to Skype more frequently.  Makoto nearly makes Rin cry with all of the lab reports and problem sets he has to work through, and Rin regales Makoto with stories of his new teammates, as well as the parties they take him to.  

He keeps up with Nagisa and Rei, too, offering as much advice as he can muster as they navigate the looming prospect of a long-distance relationship once they graduate.  Makoto knows that they’ll be fine, but that doesn’t mean he can escape from the worried texts Nagisa develops a habit of sending late at night, when Makoto’s trying to fall asleep.

It’s all very normal, and it’s easy for Makoto to fall into a routine.  It’s easy for him to remain patient for Haru’s return, easy to pretend that he isn’t filling a Haru-shaped hole in his life with studying and a few new friends.  One friend in particular, an outgoing, popular guy named Kisumi, invites Makoto to join the basketball club.  He isn’t the best on the team, but it’s a lot of fun, and it forces Makoto to spend time outside of his apartment when he isn’t surrounded by books and articles.

Halfway through the semester, Makoto has a long lab report due that he didn’t have much time during the week to finish.  He ends up working on it late into the night, well past the time he normally gives up until the next day.  He’s hunched over his laptop on his futon, a blanket around his shoulders and celestial white noise playing from his speakers when the first knock sounds.  It startles him out of a haze of experimental error and methodological nit-picking, and he isn’t entirely sure that he might not have imagined it, but when it sounds again, a slow, hesitant _tap, tap, tap_ , a series of shivers run down his spine.

He checks the time - almost midnight.  Could it be one of his neighbors?  They could be drunk - it definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’s overheard them coming home from a late night out.  Or maybe it’s a monster, come to take Makoto to its lair, where it can eat him in peace.

He shakes his head.  No more binging green tea so far into the evening.  

There’s another knock, and this time, Makoto can hear some shuffling on the other side of the door, as well as what sounds like a muffled curse.  Carefully, he stands up, his blanket falling away from him to pool at his feet.  

He swallows his fears, and takes the first step towards the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, school was crazy! This semester, however, should be wayyyy easier, so hopefully(!!!!!) I'll be able to finish this this year!! Talk about New Year's resolutions am I right?
> 
> But, as always, I hope you enjoyed this! It's a long time coming, I know, but thank you all again so, so much for your patience and support. It really does mean a lot to me!


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well!!! This is it!!! The end has come!!!!! I don't think I really believed I had it in me, but I've done it!!
> 
> Thank you so, so very much, all of you who have stuck with me since the very beginning, and all of you who have discovered this piece over the years -- it's because of all of you that I even persevered with this thing over such a silly amount of time. I never even intended to turn this story into what it eventually became. It was supposed to be a fun little thing, but it quickly developed a life of its own, and I'm so glad it did!
> 
> So, without any further ado -- I'm too nervous about it to hold onto it much longer anyway -- the conclusion!

At first, he doesn’t believe what he sees.

The dark hair, the flat brow, the familiar line of his nose – it’s Haru, he’s at Makoto’s door, he’s looking at him like he can’t believe his own eyes, either, and Makoto has to pinch himself because he honestly can’t tell if he’s dreaming or not, having possibly fallen asleep at his laptop.

His heart hammers in his ears, and he’s rooted to his spot, afraid to move as he comes in and carefully closes the door behind him. “H-Haru – ”

He’s in his arms, his lips are on his, his hands are in his hair. He’s everything Makoto remembered – the smooth slide of his skin, the warmth of his scent, the heat of his mouth. Makoto dimly recognizes the yellow fabric of the shirt currently balled up in his hands, but as Haru presses him back into the apartment, his name hovering at the precipice of his lips, Makoto thinks that he can save that thought for later.

**

“How did you know where to find me?” They’re lying back on the futon, Makoto’s lab report completely forgotten on the floor beside them. “How do you _keep_ finding me like this?”

Haru watches him, his eyes roving over Makoto’s face like a starving man seeing food for the first time in weeks. “Your parents gave me your address,” he says. “They helped me buy a train ticket.”

Makoto balks. “They did?”

“Your mom was very understanding.”

Makoto smiles; he can just picture his mother fluttering around Haru, making sure he gets to Kyoto and Makoto as safely as possible. The shirt suddenly makes sense, too - she must have packed some of Makoto’s older clothes so Haru wouldn’t have to go without. It makes his heart ache just a little; he hadn’t realized how much he missed being taken care of like that.

He turns onto his side, props his head on his hand, and drinks in the sight of Haru beside him. “Why are you here so _late_?” he asks.

Haru’s eyes refuse to leave Makoto’s. “It was harder finding you in a city.”

“Why didn’t you call me at home?” Makoto asks. He reaches over to fiddle with the sleeve of Haru’s shirt. “I would have picked you up from the station.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

That makes Makoto’s heart falter, and he has to bite back a sudden wave of emotion that prickles just behind his eyes. He’d spent so much of the last nine months hoping that Haru thought about him only half as much as he kept thinking about Haru. And now, he knows that Haru _had_ been thinking about him, that he’d thought about returning enough to make the decision to surprise him, to _want_ to surprise him. There are words for the feelings that are suddenly making it very difficult to breathe, or even form coherent thoughts, and Makoto wishes he could figure them out, if only to assure Haru that he hasn’t lost his mind. Instead, he tries to blink them away, his throat too full of emotion to speak.

“What’s wrong?” Haru murmurs. He stretches a hand up to caress Makoto’s jaw.

“Nothing,” Makoto chokes out. He knows that he probably looks like he’s about to cry. “I’m just really happy.”

Haru’s eyes cut to the floor, and his hand drops back to his side. His face - or what Makoto can see of it, anyway - looks overwhelmed. “I’m happy, too,” he mumbles.

Makoto reaches for him, pulls him into his chest as he rolls onto his back. “I love you,” he murmurs into his hair, with a gentle press of his lips. He feels… centered, with Haru’s weight holding him down, with his clean, watery scent surrounding him. He’d gone so long without this, forced to grasp at memories like straws, that he’d forgotten what it had felt like to really feel balanced like this.

Haru turns his head and kisses Makoto. He carefully pushes himself up, straddles Makoto, cages him in with his hands. He kisses his mouth, his jaw, the side of his neck, his lips lingering where Makoto’s pulse hammers beneath his skin. One hand threads itself through Makoto’s hair while the other trails down his shoulder, slipping beneath the collar of his T-shirt to fondle his chest. Makoto can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of his throat as Haru passes a thumb over his nipple, and he pulls away, his brows furrowed with confusion.

“What?” he snaps.

“It just – ” Makoto has to snort again, despite himself, at the outrage tugging at the corners of Haru’s mouth, like he’s purposefully delaying his gratification. “It tickled, okay?” He has to look away, heat rising to his cheeks as he says, “No one’s really… touched my nipples like that. So.”

Haru bends down closer to Makoto’s chest, tugging his shirt down to examine his anatomy. “That’s called a nipple?”

Makoto runs a fond hand over the top of Haru’s head, ruffling his hair. “Yes. It’s a technical term.”

Haru peeks up at Makoto for a split second before carefully running a finger over his chest, and Makoto jumps when it passes over his nipple again. He tries it again, and again, his eyes flicking back and forth between his work and Makoto’s face. A smile begins to twinkle in his eye. “You like it.”

Makoto leans his head back as a gust of breath leaves him in exasperation. “Haru. Please.”

Another brush of his finger, and Makoto can feel more than just his nipple growing hard. He bites back a frustrated groan. “ _Haru_ – ”

Haru shuts him up with a kiss. He cups Makoto’s face and makes the kiss so deep that parts of Makoto that have lain dormant for months suddenly burning. Makoto clumsily hikes up Haru’s shirt, stroking his back with the flat of his hand, his breath hitching when a stray nail against skin elicits a noise from Haru that Makoto’s never heard before. Haru bears down on his hips, aligning them until something hot and immediate surges through Makoto’s stomach, and he forgets where his hands are, forgets where his everything is.

Makoto flips them over, and Haru’s eyes burn bright as he pushes the shirt over Haru’s head. He strokes his belly, his heart thumping when Haru shifts against his touch, forcing Makoto’s hand lower. Heat continues to pool in the pit of his groin, his heart is racing, and he bends down to kiss Haru deliriously as he trails his hand even lower, hesitant despite the eager responses in the back of Haru’s throat.

And he lets Haru overwhelm him, lets him drag him along like a merciless rip tide, pulling him further and further until he no longer cares that he can no longer see the shore.

**

Makoto wakes up with Haru’s face pressed against his back, his arms wrapped around his torso, one of his feet stuck between his calves. His entire backside is hot with Haru’s body heat, and for a brief second he wonders if mermaids might run warmer than humans. That thought leaves his head when a soft sigh sounds behind him, and Haru pulls him closer, his cheek rubbing against Makoto’s bare back. He mumbles something into Makoto’s skin, the warm caress of his breath causing Makoto’s heart to skitter through his chest.

The light coming in through the window is very faint; it can’t be much longer until sunrise. Makoto reaches for his watch, careful not to disturb Haru, and that’s when he catches sight of his laptop, lying abandoned and just out of reach.

“ _Crap_ ,” he hisses. He still needs to finish his lab report.

Somehow, he manages to extricate himself from Haru’s embrace without waking him. Makoto thanks his lucky stars as he carries his laptop over to his desk; he isn’t sure he’d be able to finish if Haru woke up right now.

He checks the time as he opens the word processor back up - he has a little over four hours before he has to go to his first class of the day. Before he starts, he tiptoes around Haru to the kitchen, where he makes himself some tea to wake up. He also grabs a yogurt before heading back, making sure he doesn’t spill anything as he passes by Haru once again.

He has to reread what he’d written last night, and thankfully, most of it is good enough to keep. He spends some time rewriting the last section he’d worked on, and the room steadily brightens as he works on his conclusion and fixes up the tables and graphs he’d drawn up earlier. He thinks that he might even have some time to make a nicer breakfast than the usual toast and instant miso, and he’s beginning to take a mental inventory of what’s in his kitchen when something warm suddenly slides underneath his arms.

He yelps, and he almost falls back in surprise as Haru’s chin hooks itself over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Haru’s breath is hot on his ear. He squeezes Makoto’s waist. “Come back to bed.”

“I – ” Makoto swallows as Haru presses up behind him, insistent. “I had to finish this. It’s due at noon today, and I didn’t get to finish it last night because, well, you…”

Haru nuzzles his ear. “Distracted you?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Makoto breathes.

“Just come back for a little bit.”

“Haru, I can’t.” Makoto pulls away just enough so he can turn to catch Haru’s eye. “This isn’t summer break. I actually have class.”

Haru sighs, though it’s really more of a frustrated huff of air against the side of Makoto’s face. “Okay.”

“We have time for breakfast, though.”

His face suddenly becomes focused. “Mackerel?”

Makoto shakes his head, his smile rueful. “I’m sorry.”

He has miso soup, as well as leftover chicken from the night before, which he mixes with egg and serves over rice. He can’t help but smile at Haru’s sour expression as he places his bowl in front of him, like he should have known better than to let himself run out of mackerel. Still, he tries it, and Makoto laughs when he reluctantly begins to eat more enthusiastically.

“You like it?” he teases.

“It’d be better with mackerel,” is all Haru gives him.

He makes some toast, too, and he finally settles down across the too-small table, letting his feet tangle with Haru’s underneath. He still can’t quite believe that he has Haru in front of him, that it’s Haru’s foot rubbing unconsciously against his calf; all of it feels so familiar, so _right_ , Makoto can’t believe he lasted so long without it. Haru had carved out a piece of Makoto’s heart for himself, had taken it with him so many months ago, and now that Makoto has it back, he realizes just how much the edges of the hole had ached, and how hollow everything had felt.

It almost hurts, how glad he is to have him here again.

Haru narrows his eyes at him, pauses with his chopsticks raised halfway to his mouth. “You’re staring,” he says.

Makoto blinks. “Sorry.”

“Are you okay?”

He nods. “I was just wondering…” He looks down to his bowl of egg and rice, his heart rate picking up as his nerves begin to gather. “How long can you stay? This time.”

Haru sets his chopsticks down, his mouth set in a straight line. “I’m not sure,” he says. “But my grandmother told me that the more I do this, the more I can strengthen my endurance and stay here for longer periods of time. She said it’s like training a muscle.”

Makoto waits with bated breath, hope blooming in his chest. “Does that - does that mean…”

One of the corners of Haru’s mouth twists with the beginnings of a smile. “There’s a word for someone like me, you know,” he says.

“A mermaid word?” Makoto asks.

Haru sighs, his eyes flicking down to the table. “It roughly translates to something like ‘land traitor,’ but it’s really more like ‘one seduced by the landpeople.’”

Something warm bubbles up in Makoto’s stomach. He doesn’t want to flatter himself by assuming anything, but he’s smiling, and he feels a little giddy as he asks, “Have - have I seduced you?”

Haru’s eyes are sparkling when they return to meet Makoto’s. “What do you think?”

Makoto has to look away, everything suddenly becoming too much for him to bear.

Then his watch beeps, as it’s meant to do half an hour before class is meant to begin.

“Shoot!” He stumbles up and away from the table. He hasn’t done anything to get ready; he’d lost track of time doing breakfast with Haru, and he’s still in his pajamas.

Haru stays where he is, watching Makoto hurry around the room, frantically grabbing his books and supplies and shoving them into his bag. A quick check in the mirror reveals greasy hair, but there’s no time for a shower. He brushes his teeth, puts on deodorant, and - after a firm warning not to try anything funny shot at Haru - he changes his clothes.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay here?” he asks, pausing with his new shirt in his hand.

“I’ll be fine,” Haru says, seemingly tranquil as ever.

Makoto checks his desk one more time before zipping his bag up. “I’ll leave you some money,” he says, “and I have a spare key that I can give you, in case you decide to leave and need to lock the door.” He opens a drawer and pulls the key out, tossing it to Haru, who catches it with ease. “I’ll leave you my phone number, too, and if you’re here, you can ask one of my neighbors for their phone, or if you’re out you can ask anyone in a shop if you can use their phone. They probably won’t mind – ”

“Makoto.” Haru looks like he’s trying not to smile as he nervously chews on his lip in the middle of the room. “I’ll be fine.”

Makoto shrugs, even as his watch beeps, tenaciously telling him he has 15 minutes to run to class. “I just feel bad, leaving you here.”

Haru stands up. He steps closer and gingerly takes one of Makoto’s hands. “You have class. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Makoto nods. “Okay.”

Haru claps him on the arms. “Now go.”

**

He barely makes it to class on time, but he does hand his report in before his professor calls the class to attention, and he lands in his usual spot with his heart still pounding out adrenaline.

The girl sitting next to him looks over with a quirked brow. “Busy morning?”

Makoto manages a shrug. “Kind of.”

He’s hardly able to focus on the lecture, intrusive thoughts of what Haru could be getting up to distracting him from the professor’s slides on the geology of the ocean floor. Haru on his bed, staring at the ceiling because he doesn’t know what else there is to do. Haru watching some kids’ anime on the TV. Haru exploring his body in ways Makoto _definitely_ should not be thinking about in the middle of class. Haru leaving the apartment, getting lost, not knowing how to get back, or how to reach Makoto for help. Haru alone, scared, in trouble –

Makoto blinks those thoughts away, focusing all of his attention on the notes he’s taking – that is, until he realizes he’s copied the same three bullet points twice.

He takes a deep breath, in, out, tells himself that Haru is fine, and will be fine in his apartment when he gets back later that day. He listens to his professor, he takes notes, and, when it’s over, he packs his things and goes to the library to prepare for his next class.

**

He tries not to fixate on images of Haru lost or lying in a dumpster the whole train ride home. He’s only been gone for a little more than half a day, but there’s no telling what could have happened in his absence. He jiggles his keys in his hands the entire time, his body stiff with nerves, his stomach clenching with urgency every time the train stops and the automated voice announces the station over the speaker system. He wishes – not for the first time that day – that he had some way of contacting Haru from his phone. As he checks the train map to count the number of stops left, Makoto makes a mental note to look into getting a phone for Haru, especially if he plans on staying for longer than a week. Makoto _hopes_ he’ll stay for longer than a week.

He’s first off the train when it reaches his stop, he weaves through the station faster than he thinks he’s ever moved through it before, and he nearly dies crossing the street; he’d forgotten in his haste to check the crosswalk signal. He takes the stairs in his building two at a time, and by the time he’s fumbling with his key, his hands shaking as he tries to fit it into the lock, he’s sweating, his heart is pounding, and his stomach is pinched with nerves. Finally, he gets it, the door opens, and he bursts through –

And nothing.

He blinks, his breath coming as fast as his heartbeat. His keys drop from his fingers as his hand goes limp with surprise.

Haru’s gone.

The bedsheets are still rumpled, there’s a mostly full but definitely cold cup of tea precariously perched on the edge of the TV stand, a half-empty bowl of some concoction Makoto can’t identify on the floor just underneath it. One of Makoto’s textbooks is open on the floor, and as he reaches down to put it away, he notices with a pang a small fingerprint of what looks like soy sauce on the bottom corner of one of the pages.

He stands there, in the middle of his tiny apartment, and sighs. He doesn’t know what he had expected; Haru naked on his bed? Not completely impossible, given some of his previous behavior. Haru asleep? Also plausible. Haru in the hallway, talking with one of Makoto’s neighbors? Not as plausible, but Makoto wouldn’t necessarily rule it out. Yet despite all of his worrying at school and on the train, he hadn’t _really_ believed Haru would disappear again, and so quickly.

“Haru?” he tries. His voice cracks a little. “Haru? Are you here?”

Something sounds in the bathroom that makes his insides seize with horror. A dripping sound, and then a splash, like something’s moving around in there. His heart in his throat, he approaches the door.

“Haru? Are you in there?”

“Makoto?”

He lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he opens the bathroom door to find Haru squished into the pint-sized tub, water overflowing as he tries to sit up. “Why are you all sweaty?” he asks.

Makoto laughs, sounding a little slap-happy to his own ears. “I – I didn’t know you were in here. I thought…” He swallows, momentarily distracted by way Haru’s wet hair clings to his temples. “I thought you’d left. Again.”

Haru scoffs. “I just got here.”

Makoto leans back against the sink. He feels a little weak, after what he’s just put himself through. “I know,” he says with a soft smile.

“I found some mackerel while you were out,” Haru says.

Makoto’s eyebrows shoot up. “I hope you paid for it.”

“I just gave the lady the money you gave me.”

His eyebrows travel even further upwards. “You gave her _everything_? I left you 5,000 yen!”

“Well, I bought three,” Haru says, as if that was enough justification to pay nearly five times the amount fresh fish usually costs.

“I bet she was very happy when you gave her the money,” Makoto says.

“Well, yeah,” Haru says. “She sold some of her delicious fish to someone who loves it.”

Makoto sighs. He tells himself that he should focus on the fact that Haru had been able to successfully locate a fish market, make a purchase, and come back, rather than the frustration of losing not an insignificant portion of his monthly food allowance. “How long have you been in here?” he asks

Haru hesitates. “A while.”

“Just… soaking?”

Haru answers Makoto’s question by simply sinking further into the water, until only his eyes are visible above its surface.

“Well,” Makoto says. He leans against the doorjamb, crosses his arms. “I was too worried about what might’ve happened to you to stop and get any food for dinner on my way home. So…” He trails off, a little lost looking at Haru’s eyes and their murky reflections in the water. “I can run to the store really quick, while you’re still in here. I’ll be back before you get out, probably.”

Haru’s mouth surfaces. “You don’t want me to come?”

“You don’t have to,” Makoto says. “You’ll just try to get me to buy more mackerel, anyway.”

“You _should_ buy more mackerel.”

Makoto ignores that as he pushes himself off of the wall. “I won’t be long.”

“Seriously,” Haru calls after him. “I’m serious!”

**

He picks up some microwaveable dinners from the convenience store across the street, largely noodle-based, and he gives his eyes a playful roll when Haru reads their labels in outrage.

“But I asked!”

Makoto breezes past him into the tiny kitchen. “You should have asked nicely,” he says.

Haru hesitates behind him. “Is that… Does that mean something I don’t know?”

“No,” Makoto laughs. “I’m teasing you.”

“Is that like tickling?”

Makoto seizes, remembering the last time _tickling_ had been discussed at length. “No,” he says. “Not at all.”

Haru seems to enjoy his dinner despite its lack of mackerel just as he had enjoyed his breakfast that morning, and he wrinkles his nose when Makoto points that out. All of the tension and panic that had plagued him after his classes has gone completely, and Makoto feels warmth oozing out of himself with Haru in his living area, the TV shouting anime at a low volume behind him.

“I was thinking,” he says, looking down at his plastic container. “I could get you a phone, since you might be here a while. And I might need to get in touch with you while we’re apart during the day.”

When he glances up, Haru’s regarding him quizzically. “I’m going to be here a while?”

Makoto coughs, and says, “Well, I mean – I didn’t mean to – only if you _want_ to…” He can feel the redness of his face, and his heart is suddenly eager to escape his chest. He meets Haru’s eyes. “You _do_ want to, right?”

And Haru surprises him by smiling, and letting out a laugh, followed by another. The sound hits his ears like a splash of water. “I’m teasing you,” he says, his eyes sparkling as he tries to figure out Makoto’s stunned reaction. “Of course I want to stay. Why else do you think I went through everything I did?”

“I – I don’t know.” Makoto laughs, too. He feels like he’s going to float away from the floor, the table, the little room he’s managed to carve out for himself in the city. He feels a little breathless, dizzy with anticipation of all the things that can happen. Living with Haru, _being_ with Haru, learning as much about Haru as he can because they’ll have more than just a summer to do so. Everything – legal matters, practical matters, matters like what the hell Haru will do with himself while Makoto is at school, how Haru, who isn’t meant to exist, _can_ exist in this other world – all of it is eclipsed by the laughter Makoto is witnessing on the other side of his table, as Haru makes a crack about how Makoto’s face looked in his confusion. Haru, who was that _thing_ Makoto always sensed in the water, who saved him, who rescued him from drowning. Haru, who recovered from an injury in the swimming clubhouse at Makoto’s old school, who enjoyed a shoujou manga, who made the choice to leave his world to explore Makoto’s. To be with Makoto.

Haru, who loves Makoto. Who Makoto loves.

“What are you thinking?” he asks Makoto. Their feet bump together under the table, gentle, familiar, affectionate.

And suddenly, all of Makoto’s worries seem inconsequential compared to the importance of the person in front of him.

He smiles, his heart full of Haru.

They have all the time in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank all of you again for coming along this adventure with me. I know it took forever, and I know I've probably lost a lot of people in the long (so, so very long) periods in between updates. But for those who've stuck with me -- you're the real MVPs, and, honestly, this story wouldn't exist in its current form if it hadn't been for the continued love and support I've received all along!! I really can't thank you enough!!
> 
> I hope that this was a satisfying enough ending, and that the wait wasn't too long! I can't make any promises for any kind of epilogue or continuation, but... if there ends up being something... you all know where to find me! Thank you again for all the support -- I love all of you!


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